HOW  TO  CORRECT  THEM 


Best  Methods  of  Teachinj 
in  Country  Schools 

By  G,  Dallas  Lind 


This  work  is  not  the  fine-spun  theory  of  a  college  pro- 
fessor, but  the  practical  ideas  of  a  country  teacher,  fresh 
from  the  country  school-room. 

It  is  not  a  mass  of  "  glittering  generalities,"  but  sug- 
gestions in  detail  as  to  how  to  teach  and  manage  an  un- 
graded school,  drawn  from  long  experience  and  careful 
observations. 

1.  It  tells  how  the  teacher  should  conduct  himsdf  in  rela- 
tion to  his  patrons  and  to  society  in  general. 

2.  It  tells  what  qualifications  are  necessary  for  a  good 
teacher. 

3.  //  tells  how  to  apply  for  a  school. 

4.  It  describes  in  detail  the  most  approved  and  appli- 
cable methods  of  teaching  all  the  branches  studied  in  a 
country  school. 

5.  It  gives  some  very  practical  hints  about  apparatus  and 
school  architecture. 

6.  It  will  give  you  new  insight  into  your  work. 

7.  It  will  lead  you  to  see  and  realize  more  pleasure  and 
happiness  in  your  teaching  than  you  have  ever  been  able  to  get 
out  of  it  before. 

8.  It  will  give  you  the  essential  principles  of  practical 
teaching. 

9.  //  will  tell  you  just  what  to  do  and  how  to  do  it,  so  that 
vour  work  -will  not  only  be  enjoyable,  but  profitable. 

No  book  has  ever  been  published  containing  so  many 
helpful  suggestions  of  vital  interest  to  Teachers  of 
Country  Schools. 

Teachers  of  Town  and  City  Schools  will  also  derive 
much  benefit  from  reading  the  Chapters  on  the  Methods 
of  Teaching.  Reading,  Spelling.  Arithmetic  Geography, 
General  Hist-'r.-.  I'hvsiolotrv.  Algebra.  Natural  Science, 
Morals  and  Manners. 


A  sample  copy  will  be  sent,  postpaid,  to  any  teacher  for 
$1.00  (regular  price  $1.25). 

HINDS  &  NOBLE,  Publishers 
4-5-6-12-J3-J4  Cooper  Institute          New  York  City 


as  ait  m  in  teaching 


That  scientific  teaching  is  impossible  without  a 
knowledge  of  Psychology  is  no  longer  a  debated 
question.  But  there  is  an  important  question  in  this 
connection  which  has  not  yet  been  answered  :  WHAT 
BOOK  shall  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  earnest 
teachers  study  who  have  not  had  the  advantages  of  a 
college  training? 

I.  Do  they  need  a  book  which  they  can  understand— 
a  book  whose  apt  illustrations  bring  abstract  truths 
will1  in  the  range  of  universal  comprehension? 

a.  Do  they  need  a  book  which  makes  it  clear  that 
there  are  questions  which  it  does  not  attempt  to 
answer,  questions  that  no  elementary  text-book  can 
hope  to  answer,  and  which  will  thus  stimulate  them  to 
further  study  and  further  investigation  ? 

3.  Do  they  need  a  book  which  is  constantly  raising 
questions  about  their  minds  and  the   minds  of  their 
pupils  —  a  book  which  will  make  them  students  of  their 
own  minds  and  the  minds  cf  their  pupils  in  spite  of 
themselves  ? 

4.  Do  they  need  a  book  \vhich  is  itself  from  beginning 
to  end  a  perfect  sample  of  tbe  inductive  method  of 
teaching,  beginning  with  the  simple  and  the  known 
and  going  to  the  complex  and  unknown  ? 

5  Do  they  need  a  book  which  thousands  of  teachers 
have  declared  was  the  first  to  interest  them  in  the 
study  of  mind? 

If  so,  there  is  one  book  that  will  fully  satisfy  their 
ueeds.  That  book  is  Gordy's  New  Psychology. 

If  you  wish  to  see  for  yourself  whether  it  possesses 
ell  of  these  characteristics  send  for  a  copy.  It  will  cost 
you  nothing  if  you  do  not  like  it.  If  you  wish  to  keep 
it  the  price  is  $1.25. 


HINDS  &  NOBLE 
Cooper  Institute      -      -      New  York  Oty 


HOW  TO  CORRECT    'THEM 


Preston  Papers 


BY 


MISS  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT 


Editor  of  the  "New  Education" 


Revised  and  Enlarged 


COPYRIGHT,  l3c«,  BY  WILLIAM  H.  BRIGGS 
COPYRIGHT,  1899,  BY  HINDS  &  NOBLE 


HINDS  &  NOBLE,  Publishers 
4-5-6-12-13-14  COOPER  INSTITUTE,  NEW  YORK  CITY 

School  Books  of  All  Publishers  at  One  Start 


SANTA     BARBARA.    CALIF. 


OF  INTEREST  To  You 

We  have  a  more  thoroughly  per- 
fected system  and  better  facilities  for 
furnishing  promptly  books  of  all  pub- 
lishers than  any  other  house  in  the 
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Our  business  is  divided  into  de- 
partments, each  under  a  superintend- 
ent, so  that  every  detail  is  carefully 
looked  after. 

We  deal  only  in  School  and  College 
books,  of  which  we  carry  an  immense 
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duced prices  any  schoolbook  published. 
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these  books,  with  a  classified  index. 
Send  for  one. 

HINDS  &  NOBLE 
4-5-13-14  Cooper  Institute,  New  York  City 


DEDICATION. 

To  my  dear  old  pupils,  who  for  so  many  years  have 
walked  hand  in  hand  with  me,  and  especially  to  such  of 
them  as  are  now  engaged  in  teaching  or  in  preparing  them- 
selves for  this  delightful  work,  this  little  volume  is  most 

affectionately  dedicated,  by 

THE  AUTHOR. 


PREFATORY. 

Pausing  at  the  threshold  of  perpetuating  in  covers  these 
"  PRESTON  PAPERS,"  the  author  desires  to  say  that  Miss 
Preston  is  no  ideal  teacher,  but  one  well  known  to  both 
publishers  and  author,  as  a  bona  fide  teacher  who  still  lives, 
works,  and  enjoys  her  work,  with  a  zest  unknown  to 
mere  "  machine  "  teachers.  The  experiences  are  real  and 
possibly  not  unusual,  and  are  offered  to  the  pedagogical 
fraternity  with  the  hope  that  they  may  be  suggestive  of  a 
"  Beyond  "  in  the  work. 

Miss  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 


CONTENTS. 


No.  i. —  GOVERNMENT.       --.-._ 

Asking  advice  —  Miss  Preston — Her  notions — Rudeness 
—  Legitimate  noise — Machine  Work — Monitors  —  Self  Re- 
spect —  Injury  to  —  A  simile  —  Management  during  teacher's 
absence  —  Order  —  How  secured  —  Its  object  —  Queries. 

No.  2. —  REPORTS.       ........ 

Teachers'  meeting  in  Old  town  —  Obligation  to  be  present  — 
Reports  outlined  —  The  routine  — Variations  —  Miss  Preston's 
first  attendance  —  She  gives  no  report  —  Her  reason  —  My 
own  report  —  Tricks  in  trade — Miss  Preston's  absence  from 
October  meeting — Her  note  —  Its  effect  —  Asked  to  preside 
at  next  session  —  Takes  her  school  to  the  woods  —  Lessons 
learned  by  the  way  —  Compositions  elicited  therefrom  —  Her 
address  to  the  meeting  —  What  the  meeting  should  develop — 
Her  conduct  of  it  —  Enthusiasm. 


No.  3. —  PUNISHMENT.          ......     14 

The  "class  meeting"  method  —  Mr.  Whipple's  doubt  as  to 
the  right  to  use  the  rod —  Miss  Wood's  fear,pf  personal  con- 
sequences—  Her  lack  of  "presence" — Mr.  Smith's  declara- 
tion —  Outwitted  by  his  botany  class  —  Politics  in  education — 
Miss  Sigoumey — Tyranny — Responsibility  for  rebellion  — 
Brutalizing  effects  of  corporal  punishment  —  Character  ex- 
pressed in  physique  —  Ridicule  and  sarcasm  —  Miss  Preston's 
speech  —  Corporal  punishment  may  be  preferred  to  mental. 


vi  CONTENTS. 

FAOK. 

No.  4. —  PUNISHMENT.     (Continued).  -     19 

Troublesome  children  —  Spoiled  and  neglected  —  How  to 
manage  —  Upon  what  punishment  should  depend  —  Some 
things  in  pupils  for  which  teachers  are  blamable  —  Govern- 
ment of  bad  children  —  Negative  and  positive  —  Corporal  — 
How  to  be  administered  —  J.  G.  Holland's  story  of  a  bad  boy. 

No.  5. —  THE  MUSEUM.       -  -  -    23 

As  a  help  —  Miss  Preston's  choice  of  aid  —  Indifference  of 

her  associates  —  The  closet  transformed  —  Nicknames — The 

'  Museum  opened  to  the  school  —  Contributions  —  Effects  noted 

—  Total  depravity  —  Miss  Wood's  remonstrance  —  The  reply 

—  Salary  —  Details. 

No.  6. —  RESPONSIBILITY.    -  -29 

Schoolrooms  —  How  to  be  kept  —  Demand  for  curtains, 
thermometer,  and  waste  paper  basket  —  Reasons  —  Cleanli- 
ness—  Habits — Apparent  indifference  of  teachers  explained 

—  A  teacher's  duties  —  Where  end  —  Other  people  —  A  newly 
furnished  schoolroom  —  Plants  and  pictures. 

No.  7. —  GEOGRAPHY.  -  -    34 

Taught  in  all  grades  —  Too  much  time  spent  upon  it  — 
Made  too  important  —  To  be  taught  incidentally —  Too  much 
"book"  work  —  Visit  to  a  summer  school  —  Parrot-like  reci- 
tations—  Confusion  of  ideas — Miss  Preston's  plan — "Want 
of  time  "  plea  —  Queries  suggested. 

No.  8. —  TEACHERS'  EXAMINATIONS.  -        -        -        -     4o 

How  they  were  formerly  conducted  in  Oldtown  —  Miss 
Preston  investigates — Her  dissatisfaction — Defects  pointed 
out  —  The  best  method  suggested  —  Separate  examinations  for 
teachers  of  different  grades  —  Fitness  considered. 


CONTENTS.  vii 

FAGK. 

No.  9. —  PRIZE  GIVING.  -    45 

As  a  stimulus  —  Objections  —  As  being  "less  trouble" — 
Shirking  responsibilities  —  Comparisons  —  Results  of  prize 
winning  —  Examples  —  Love  not  gained  by  this  means  — 
"  Right  for  Right's  sake  " —  Instead  of  prizes,  what  ?  —  Dis- 
tinctions made — A  Christmas  plan  —  How  it  worked  —  Asso- 
ciation with  pupils. 

No.  10. —  NUMBER.      -        -        -        -        -        -        -51 

V 

The  first  object  —  Pestalozzi's  laws  —  Specific  steps  — 
Counting  —  Teaching  relative  worth  of  numbers — The  fun- 
damental processes  taught  together  —  Caution  —  Study  in- 
volved in  thorough  teaching  —  Results. 

No.  ii. —  PRIMARY  ARITHMETIC.         -        -        -        -    56 

My  trouble  —  Miss  Preston's  help  —  Her  dialogue  with 
Henry  —  Subtraction  —  Illustration  —  Catching  the  fire  — 
Compound  numbers — Enthusiasm  —  Order  —  Counting  back- 
ward —  Devices. 

No.  12. —  COMPOSITIONS.     -        -        -        -        -        -61 

Dread  of  the  work  —  Mr.  Lowell's  method  —  Miss  Wood's 
^Miss  Well's — Plagiarism  —  Too  much  formality  in  compo- 
sition writing  —  Occasion  leads  up  to  method  —  Suggestions — 
Current  events  and  topics  fruitful  themes  —  Finishing  up  the 
work. 

No.  13. — MANAGEMENT.     -        -        -  -        -    66 

Promotion  of  educational  interests  —  Causes  of  success — 
Discipline  —  Dignity  —  Rules  enforced  —  Cooperation  —  An 
experience  —  A  school  reception  proposed  —  Laughed  at  — 
Complaint  —  Invitation*  —  A  success  —  Meeting  the  parents 
—  Trustees  —  Calls  among  pupils  —  Success  compensatory  and 
commensurate. 


riii  CONTENTS. 

PAGK 

No.  14. —  ENVIRONMENT.     -        -        -        -        -        -71 

A  teacher's  opportunities  —  Our  school  yard  —  Its  former 
appearance  —  Saving  lunch  ' '  scraps  " —  Use  —  Clearing  up  the 
yard  —  The  vase  —  Filling  it  —  The  rockery  —  Geranium  bank 

—  Croquet  asked  for —  Received —  Miss  Preston's  promotion. 

No.  15. —  HEALTH.     .--....75 

An  unusual  topic  —  The  educational  "world  does  move" — 
Time  —  How  to  be  measured  —  Soliloquy  —  Why  make  the 
most  of  our  physical  nature  —  To  promote  our  own  interests 

—  As  a  self  duty  —  Carlyle's  law  of  culture  —  Mr.  Wheeler's 
motive  —  Miss  Wood  considers  it  economical  to  keep  well  —  So 
do  I  —  Miss  Smith  declares  her  independence  by  her  good 
health  —  The  prime  "why" — Teachers  specially  responsible 
— •  Time  lost  by  sickness. 

No.  16. —  HEALTH.     (Continued).       -        -        -        -     81 

Breathing  —  Ignorance  as  to  how — Wrong  breathing —  Eat- 
ing —  Too  much  —  Too  often  —  Wrong  things —  Miss  Miller's 
inquiry  —  Eating  between  meals  —  Rest  —  What  is  —  Danger 
in  "too  much"  of  anything  —  Tonics  and  narcotics  —  Dress 

—  Good  nature  a  help  —  Hints  formulated. 

No.  17. —  GRAMMAR.  ......    86 

The  trouble  begun  —  A  peculiar  man — Visits  Miss  Pres- 
ton's school  —  Favorable  impressions  —  Wishes  to  send  his 
daughter — His  home  methods  —  Objections  to  the  public 
school  system  —  Cast  iron  rules  —  Katharine  comes  to  our 
school  —  Asks  a  question  in  grammar  —  Referred  to  the  text 
book  —  A  note  from  the  Colonel  —  What  it  would  have  elicited 
formerly  —  Reasoning  —  My  reply  to  the  note  —  Appeal  to  the 
Board  of  Education  —  Arguments  —  The  moral  side  of  gram- 
mar—  Objections  to  discussion  —  Miss  Bates  infatuated  by  the 
method  of  her  childhood  —  Miss  Ingersoll's  criticism  —  Mr. 


CONTENTS.  ix 

PAGB. 

Lowell's  dread  of  the  subject  —  Miss  Wood's  experience  — 
Undoing — "  The  course  " — A  "  Baku  in  Gilead." 

No.  18. —  GRAMMAR.     (Continued.)     -        -        -        -    93 
Teaching  by  practice  —  A  new  way  —  Process  —  Text  books 

—  How  used  —  Time  and  dread  saved  in  this  way  —  Illustra- 
tion of  Miss  Preston's  method. 

No.  19. — WHISPERING.       ......    98 

A  great  evil  —  Contrary  opinions  —  Restrictions  —  Fair  play 

—  Provisions  and  reasons  for  whispering  —  Obedience  —  Con- 
secutive thinking  —  Principles  developing  fair  thought  on  the 
subject  —  Regulations. 

No.  20. —  MANNERS.    -        -        -        -        •        -  103 

A  bow  —  Politeness  among  pupils  —  Rudeness  —  Miss  Pres- 
ton's explanation  —  Lack  of  mutual  understanding  —  Civility 

—  Teaching  it  in  school  —  Necessity  for  —  Where  to  begin  — 
Selfishness  the  basis  of  rudeness  —  Tact,  an  element  of  cour- 
tesy—  The  Golden   Rule  a  guide  —  Specific  lesson?  needed 
in  deportment  —  Instances  —  Courtesy  as  capital  —  Force  of 
example. 

No.  21. —  DRESS.         .......  109 

Inattention  to  the  matter — A  contrast  —  Early  impressions 

—  Professor  Lowell's  experience  —  A  pink  dress  —  Its  influ- 
ence —  Commercial  value  of  tasteful  attire  —  What  to  wear— 
The  silent  influence. 

No.  22. —  PENMANSHIP.        -        -        -        -        •        -114 

Agitation  of  the  subject  —  Mothers  in  council  —  Criticisms 

—  Rapidity  —  How,  generally  —  How  and  when  to  begin  — 
Tools  used  —  Variations. 


X  CONTENTS. 

PASS. 

No.  23. —  PENMANSHIP.     (Continued.)          -        -        -  118 

Copy  —  Talks  with  pupils  —  Steps  —  Classification  —  Books 

—  Work  —  Advanced  classes  —  Scribbling  —  All  may  learn  to 
write  welL 

No.  24. —  OVERWORK.          -        -        -        -        .        -122 

Teachers  and  pupils  overtasked  —  Too  long  hours  —  Bad 
results — A  lazy  teacher — Too  much  attempted  —  The  cur- 
riculum—  Mistakes — Our  responsibility  —  A  student's  life  — 
Suggestions  —  Overwork  out  of  school. 

No.  25. —  SPELLING.    -        -        -        -        -        -        -128 

A  spelling  school  —  How  managed  —  Teachev  shells  against 
pupils  — Written  work  —  Review  —  Lesson  routine  — Ambigu- 
ous penmanship  —  Accuracy  —  Spelling  taught  with  other  les- 
sons —  Other  ways. 

No.  26. — READING.     -        -        .        .       -        .        .  132 

Neglected  —  Poor  reading  prevalent  —  Teachers  to  be  mod- 
els —  Drawling  —  Reading  backwards  —  Sight  reading  — 
Rapid  —  Concert  —  Outside  supplies  —  Interest  — Word  hunt- 
ing —  Dropping  out  words  —  Trial  reading  —  Practice  needed 

—  Silent   reading — Expression — Modern   reading  books  — 
Where  some  bad  habits  begin. 

No.  27. —  HOBBIES.      -------  138 

System  —  Dignity  —  Getting  down  to  the  child's  level  — 
Doing  too  much  —  Discipline  —  Good  and  bad  —  Shams  — 
Appearances  —  Laziness  —  Order  —  Selfishness  —  Independ- 
ence —  Practicality  —  Beauty  —  Custom  —  Change  —  Loss  of 
individuality  —  Lecturing  —  Proneness  of  the  pedagogue  to 
speak  —  Menace  —  Weakness  of  threats  —  Substitutes  —  Sug- 
gestions. 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

No.  28. — PHYSIOLOGY.  -  145 

The  text  books  and  work  —  Special  teacher  wanted  — 
And  practical  lessons  —  Distaste  of  children  for  the  study 

—  Log-rolling — Failure  —  Mrs.  Bryan  objects  toMary'sstudy 
of  her  m'ards — Common  sense  in  some  of  the  objections — 
Applied  physiology  —  How  Miss  Preston  began  —  Progress    • 

—  Methods — Newspapers  helpful  —  Books  are  tools  —  Defi- 
niteness  required. 

No.  29. —  HISTORY.      -*  -  153 

A  cannon  ball  fired  against  its  use  in  the  primary  depart- 
ment—  Professor  Macomber  "agonizes"  in  its  favor — A 
"Loan  Library" — Current  events  of  general  interest  — 
Local  history  ditto — Methods  in  the  preparation  and  reci- 
tation—  Reviewing  —  Conversation  lessons  —  Debates  — 
Papers  —  History  Club  —  History  social  —  History  games  — 
Dovetailing  with  other  studies — Logic  in  history. 

No.  30. — NATURE  WORK.    -  -  160 

Pros  and  cons  —  Spirit  lacking  —  Adaptation  possible  and 
variety  desirable —  What  children  like  —  Repugnant  lessons 

—  Limitless  sources  in  Nature —  Not  new  work —  Where  to 
begin  —  How — What  to  study  —  Enthusiasm  generated  by 
studying  electricity  —  A  hen  and  chickens  in  school  —  Me- 
chanics of  a  pedagogue — Rodents  in  school  —  Impertinent 
quizzing  —  The  alligator  disappears  —  Nature  work  for  city 
teachers. 

No.  31. — MANUAL  TRAINING.      -  -  168 

Cooking,  sewing,  woodwork,  etc.,  introduced  —  The  inno- 
vation—  A  woman  who  could  think  but  could  not  talk!  — 
Book  knowledge  outweighed  by  experimental  information 

—  Physiology,  chemistry,  and  cooking,  go  hand    in  hand 
through  life  —  Approval  of  the  work  by  an  editor —  Visitors 

—  Patrons  pleased  —  Judge  Munson's  invitation. 


Xll  .  CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

No.  32. — FROM  KINDERGARTEN  TO  PRIMARY.      -         -  174 

Deterioration  feared,  from  the  backward  swing  of  the 
pendulum  —  A  conference  asked  for  —  The  first  speaker  slops 
over  —  Miss  Lewis  defines  the  lack  —  Children  who  are  pro- 
moted from  the  kindergarten  —  The  assistant  remains  neutral 
as  indications  of  war  are  discovered  —  Miss  Preston  argues 
for  peace  and  breadth  —  The  step  between  the  two  classes 
too  long  —  How  it  may  be  shortened  —  Too  much  not  to  be 
expected  from  the  kindergarten  —  A  good  word,  or  several, 
for  it. 

No.  33. — PRACTICAL  PSYCHOLOGY.       -  -  182 

An  empirical  science  —  Should  be  reduced  to  every-day 
wants — In  sleep — Control  of  thought — Illustrations  —  A 
question  of  will  —  Physical  preparations  for  sleep. 

No.  34. — OPENING  EXERCISES.    -  -  189 

A  keynote  to  much  trouble  —  Some  of  the  difficulties  — 
How  to  avoid  them  —  Good  suggestions  —  Outsiders  called 
in  —  Great  possibilities  in  the  morning  hour  —  Punctuality 
fostered  —  Start  the  day  happily  —  Avoid  dead  levels  of 
monotony  —  Reverence  taught  by  implication.  . 

No.  35. — REVIEWS.      -  -  195 

The  pedagogy  questioned  and  defended  —  Mr.  Johnson 
comes  to  the  rescue — Development  lessons  need  to  be  supple- 
mented by  "drill"  work  —  Conducting  a  review  lesson  — 
Thoroughness  aided  —  Fun  encouraged  —  Humor-sense  of 
the  average  child — An  instance — Experience  an  advantage. 


PRESTON  PAPERS. 


No.  I. 

GOVERNMENT. 

OLDTOWN,  N.  Y.,  February  25,  188-. 
MR. ,  State  Supt. 

My  Dear  Sir :  —  State  Superintendents  are  supposed  to 
be  a  sort  of  walking  storehouse  of  knowledge,  aren't  they  .; 
Presuming  your  answer  will  be  an  unqualified  "  Yes,"  I  will 
proceed  to  state  the  cause  of  my  bewilderment.  It  may  be 
that  you  or  some  of  your  associates  can  give  me  light  from 
your  lamp  without  diminishing  your  own  benefit  from  it. 
Do  not  laugh  at  me  for  not  being  able  to  solve  my  problems 
alone. 

To  be  brief,  I  am  engaged  as  second  assistant  in  Public 
School  No.  4,  where  I  have  served  for  twenty-one  years ;  so 
I  think  I  know  some  things  about  its  requirements  quite  as 
well  as  the  lady  principal  does  who  has  only  been  here  since 
September,  and  is  very  young,  and  can  have  had  but  little 
experience  compared  to  mine.  And  here  my  puzzle  begins. 

Our  schools  are  all  under  the  supervision  of  a  superin- 
tendent who  has  held  the  position  a  great  many  years,  and 
they  have  borne  the  reputation  of  being  model  schools,  with 


2  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

perfect  order  and  discipline,  but  since  Miss  Preston  came 
( There !  I  have  actually  told  you  her  name,  although  I  did 
not  mean  to)  we  have  been  candidly  informed  by  her  that 
we  were  "  stultifying  the  children,  and  making  mere  puppets 
of  them ! "  Just  think  of  it !  And  she  has  such  peculiar 
ideas,  too,  and  she  carries  them  out  in  spite  of  Mr.  Johnson 
— our  city  superintendent — who  really  opposed  her  methods 
at  first,  although  I  must  acknowledge  that  he  rather  recom- 
mends them  now.  For  instance :  she  had  not  been  installed 
but  a  few  days  before  he  said  to  her : 

"  Miss  Preston,  your  school  is  too  noisy  " 

"  Did  I  understand  you  to  say  it  is  too  noisy  ?  "  with  a 
quiet  but  forceful  emphasis  on  the  last  two  words. 

"Yes.  Oh,  I  don't  mean  in  the  schoolroom  They  seem 
to  be  quiet  enough  here  ;  but  at  their  play  before  school  and 
during  recess." 

"  Well,  so  long  as  they  are  quiet  and  orderly  in  the  house, 
it  seems  to  me  perfectly  proper  for  them  to  use  their  lungs 
for  safety  valves,  through  which  to  get  rid  of  their  super- 
fluous steam,  while  out  of  doors  —  provided  that  they  keep 
good  natured  and  use  no  bad  words." 

"  This  is  a  quiet  -little  city  and  the  people  will  complain  if 
the  school  children  are  rude  and  noisy." 

"Rudeness  I  do  not  tolerate,"  said  she,  "but  legitimate 
noise  is  another  and  a  very  different  thing.  If  entirely  shut 
up  there  is  always  danger  of  an  explosion ;  so  I  prefer  to 
encourage  them  to  dispose  of  their  excessive  vitality  in  that 
way,  at  proper  times,  rather  than  risk  its  operation,  to  their 
disadvantage  and  my  own,  during  study  hours ;  and  we  can 
hardly  expect  two  or  three  hundred  boys  and  girls  to  be  out 
in  the  street  or  a  7  x  9  yard  and  not  make  a  noise." 


MONITORS.  3 

She  spcke  very  decidedly ;  and  he  looked,  as  he  doubtless 
felt,  perfectly  aghast  that  his  opinion  should  be  even  ques- 
tioned, much  less  entirely  disregarded.  And  no  wonder,  for 
during  all  these  years  not  a  dissenting  voice  has  been  heard 
in  objection  to  anything  he  has  done  or  proposed  doing — for 
which  fealty  Miss  Preston  is  pleased  to  say  :  "  His  teachers 
have  grown  to  be  mere  'machines,  and  the  )^ork  done  by 
them  machine  work,  and  very  poor  at  that."  «- 

Well,  he  actually  passed  that  over  without  a  word,  although 
I  fully  expected  that  she  would  be  summarily  dismissed 
"for  insubordination" — as  two  ladies  were  at  one  time  in 
Oswego. 

He  did  not  come  near  our  school  again  for  a  whole  week, 
although  his  coming  to  settle  difficulties  used  to  be  of 
frequent  occurrence  under  the  former  dispensations;  but 
when  he  made  his  next  appearance  they  had  another  "  little 
unpleasantness."  She  had  gone  down  stairs  to  assist  one 
of  the  second  grade  teachers  out  of  a  momentary  trouble, 
and  on  her  return  Miss  Preston  found  Mr.  Johnson  doing 
sentinel  duty  at  her  desk. 

**  Do  you  consider  it  conducive  to  good  order,  Miss  Pres- 
ton, to  leave  your  school  without  a  monitor  ?  " 

"Much  more  so  than  it  would  be  to  encourage  tattling 
personal  spite,  revenge,  etc.,  by  having  one." 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  that  ? " 

"Simply  this:  their  self  respect  is  injured  by  being 
watched  as  if  they  were  criminals,  by  spies  or  detectives 
appointed  for  that  purpose.  Self-respect  is  the  basis  of 
all  self-government,  which  is  the  only  true  government  for 
children  and  youth  ,  and  just  in  proportion  as  we  injure  or 
destroy  that  fundamental  element  of  real  order,  we  create 


4  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

the  very  faults  we  are  seeking  to  eradicate.  To  rob  a  child 
of  its  self-respect  is  like  removing  the  mainspring  from  a 
watch;  and  the  constant  looking  for  faults  will  soon  give 
occasion  that  we  shall  not  look  in  vain,  for  by  that  very 
means  we  are  planting  and  cultivating  the  seeds  we  most 
earnestly  wish  rooted  out,  and  we  come  to  be  looked  upon 
as  the  natural  enemy  of  the  children  whom  we  really  love 
and  honestly  wish  to  benefit." 

"  How,  then,  would  you  manage  such  a  roomful  when- 
ever you  find  it  necessary  to  leave  them  for  a  time  by 
themselves  ?  " 

"  I  don't  intend  to  leave  such  young  children  alone  much, 
of  course,  as  mischief  would  inevitably  ensue  among  so 
large  a  number ;  but  when  I  must,  I  sometimes  say :  '  Now, 
children,  be  careful  not  to  waste  any  time  while  I  am  gone, 
and  watch  yourselves ;  then  when  I  come  back  perhaps  you 
may  tell  me  if  you  do  anything  you  ought  not  to.'  ' 

"  And  do  you  mean  to  say  that  they  will  tell  of  themselves  t " 
he  asked,  a  trifle  incredulously. 

"  Certainly ;  after  a  little  education  in  that  direction  they 
much  prefer,  as  a  rule,  to  confess  their  own  faults,  rather 
than  have  some  one  else  do  so  for  them." 

"  I  see  that  they  do  not  all  sit  in  a  straight  line.  That 
will  never  do.  Order  must  be  preserved." 

"Certainly  it  must.  But  what  is  order?  If  they  were 
candles,  now,  and  had  all  been  run  in  one  mold,  we  might 
set  them  up  regularly  at  just  such  an  angle,  and  require 
them  to  stay  'fixed*  the  entire  twenty-four  hours  without 
any  compunctions  of  conscience;  but  as  they  are  human 
beings,  we  may  reasonably  suppose  that  a  slight  variation  of 
position  now  and  then  will  be  found  acceptable  to  the  tired 


ORDER.  j 

muscles ;  and  I  think  that  in  the  long  run  the  very  best 
order  is  secured  by  giving  them  a  little  less  military  drill 
and  a  trifle  more  latitude  as  to  position,  besides  rendering 
ourselves  less  liable  to  be  held  amenable  to  the  law  that 
provides  'for  the  prevention  of  cruelty  to  children.'  ' 

"  Why,  there  is  a  little  boy  actually  swinging  his  feet  in 
school  time !  " 

"  And  why  not,  pray  ?  He  is  very  intept  upon  getting  his 
lesson  —  and  at  the  same  time  he  is  quite  careful  not  to 
make  a  noise.  So  long  as  it  does  not  disturb  any  one 
else  and  interferes  with  nobody's  equal  rights,  I  would  not 
rebuke  it." 

"  But  it  looks  badly,  and  gives  your  school  the  appearance 
of  being  disorderly." 

"  Conceded ;  and  we  are  told  to  avoid  even  the  appear- 
ance of  evil,"  said  she,  cheerfully.  "  But  in  this  case,  I  'd 
prefer  taking  my  chances  on  the  appearance  of  it,  rather 
than  on  the  evil  itself.  There  are  forces  constantly  at  work 
within  us  that  tend  toward  the  discovery  of  the  principle  of 
perpetual  motion,  and  they  can  hardly  be  repressed  in  a 
healthy  child  without  serious  physical  injury.  The  greatest 
good  to  the  greatest  number  is  the  object  I  desire  to  secure, 
even  if  done  at  the  expense  of  my  reputation  as  a  disciplin- 
arian. Besides,  I  am  not  quite  convinced  that  geometric 
regularity  of  position  is  the  highest  type  of  order,"  etc., 
etc.,  etc. 

Now,  Mr.  Superintendent,  what  will  be  the  result  of  these 
and  like  heresies  ?  —  for  this  is  only  a  tithe,  she  warmly 
declaring  that  we  are  "  in  the  rut  "  and  that  she  will  resign 
her  position  before  she  will  allow  herself  to  be  driven  into 
it.  At  first  I  was  horrified,  and  I  still  fail  to  understand 


6    ,  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

some  of  her  startling  theories.  Will  you  bring  the  com- 
bined wisdom  of  yourself  and  your  intelligent  associates  to 
my  assistance  ?  Is  she  living  in  advance  of  the  age,  or  are 
we  away  down  here  a  little  bit  backward  and  ante-diluvian  ? 
I  am  candid  in  wishing  to  know  the  best  ways,  and  maybe 
we  have  become  a  little  "  set  "  in  our  methods. 

If  you  please,  I  wish  to  tell  you  sometime  about  her  ideas 
of  corporal  punishment  as  preferred  to  some  others,  that  « 
if  you  wish  to  hear  again  from 

Yours,  in  the  common  cause, 

Miss  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 


REPORTS. 


No.  11. 

REPORTS. 

OLDTOWN,  N.  Y.,  March  13,  188-. 
MR. ,  Supt.  Public  Instruction. 

My  Dear  Sir : — Your  very  kind  reply  to  my  recent  recital 
was  duly  received,  and  contents  fully  noted  —  and  having 
really  determined  to  unburden  myself  of  my  difficulties  I 
scarcely  know  where  to  begin.  Should  I  fail  to  find  a  stop- 
ping place,  you  will  please  insert  a  period  wherever' you 
deem  it  proper,  and  I  will  take  the  hint. 

I  think  I  will  begin  with  a  sketch  of  our  teachers'  meeting 
for  November,  although  the  vexed  question  of  corporal 
punishment  was  not  discussed  until  the  December  meeting. 
But  of  that  anon. 

We  have  always  held  our  teachers'  meetings  on  the  third 
Saturday  of  each  month.  No  one  is  obliged  to  be  present, 
although  all  are  expected  to.  After  the  opening  exercises 
tKe  roll  is  called  and  each  teacher  responds  by  reading  his 
or  her  "  Monthly  Report,"  which  is  about  as  follows: 

Number  of  boys  enrolled.     Girls,  ditto.     Total. 

Average  age  of  boys.     Ditto,  girls.     Total. 

Average  attendance  of  boys.     Ditto,  girls.     Total. 

Cases  of  tardiness  among  boys.     Ditto,  girls.     Total. 

Time  (given  in  hours  and  minutes)  lost  by  tardiness 
among  boys.  Ditto,  girls.  Total. 


8  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

Number  of  absences  among  boys.     Ditto,  girls.     Total. 

Absences  excused  among  boys.     Ditto,  girls.     Total. 

Lessons  lost  by  absence  and  tardiness  among  boys.  Ditto, 
girls.  Total 

Names  and  number  of  classes  taught,  with  the  average 
per  cent  of  scholarship  for  each  class. 

Now  was  not  that  systematic  ? 

After  a  few  remarks  from  the  Chair  —  our  superintendent 
always  held  that  office  —  in  which  he  generally  thinks  "  we 
are  getting  along  comfortably,"  and  "  hopes  we  realize  our 
responsibilities  and  will  do  our  duty  "  in  a  very  calm  and 
dignified  manner,  we  are  dismissed.  This  has  been  the 
routine  for  many  years,  and  it  stands  to  reason  that  the 
"Reports"  are  beneficial,  else  why  should  we  have  them? 

Occasionally  the  meetings  have  been  varied  by  the  pres- 
ence of  one  or  more,  members  of  the  board  of  education, 
who  would  pat  us  on  the  back,  as  it  were,  in  some  set  phrase 
when  called  upon  to  address  the  meeting. 

Well,  Miss  Preston  was  present  at  the  September  session, 
but  she  did  not  take  any  part  —  simply  saying  when  her 
name  was  called  that  she  "  had  not  prepared  any  report,  and 
she  did  not  as  yet  see  the  advantage  of  taking  such  a  census 
every  month." 

You  ought  to  have  seen  the  significant  looks  among  the 
teachers  as  Mr.  Johnson  replied,  with  a  rather  red  face  : 
"It  has  the  advantage  of  showing  at  a  glance  just  where  we 
stand." 

"  Very  likely,"  she  responded  rather  dryly,  "  but  I  fail  to 
see,  myself,  how  the  number  of  boys  or  girls,  or  both,  in 
School  No.  9,  can  affect  my  own ;  or  how  the  knowledge  of 
their  average  age  or  scholarship  can  benefit  my  pupils." 


TRICKS  IN  REPORTS.  g 

"Well,  well,  we  won't  discuss  it  now,"  he  said,  more  testily 
than  real  politeness  would  countenance.  "The  secretary 
will  please  call  the  next  name." 

As  that  happened  to  be  my  own,  I  arose  and  read  the 
report  over  which  I  had  spent  all  the  previous  evening  and 
a  good  share  of  Saturday  morning.  I  had  done  so  every 
month  for  years,  but  somehow  its  importance  now  faded 
from  my  mind;  and  I  wondered,  while  reading  it,  if  Mr. 
Johnson  really  thought  these  "  reports  "  are  accurate.  Of 
course  "There  are  tricks  in  all  trades  but  ours,"  but  I  will 
tell  you  confidentially  that  this  system  has  been  made  the 
excuse  for  some  false  entries.  Bad  book-keeping  is  not 
entirely  confined  to  county  treasurers  and  bank  cashiers. 
Miss  Young,  for  instance,  may  not  want  to  have  it  appear 
that  the  standard  of  her  school  is  lower  than  that  of  some 
one  else,  so  she  does  not  always  record  the  absence  or  tardi- 
ness; or  if  she  does,  the  temptation  is  to  diminish  the  time 
so  lost.  Perhaps  Mr.  Brown  would  give  us  the  impression 
that  his  methods  of  instruction  are  rather  superior ;  hence, 
his  pupils  are  sometimes  reported  higher  in  scholarship  than 
they  ically  deserve.  It  is  lamentable,  but  none  the  less  true, 
that  such  things  really  occur  where  the  public  expects  only 
such  examples  as  are  worthy  of  imitation. 

•  However,  I  won't  stop  to  moralize,  for  I  want  to  tell  you 
about  our  November  meeting.  Of  course  we  had  one  as 
usual  in  October,  but  Miss  Preston  was  not  present,  having 
actually  gone  to  the  woods  hickory  nutting  with  her  school 
children!  Actually,  I  don't  see  how  she  dared. 

Mr.  Johnson  fidgeted  some  during  the  exercises  until 
Mifs  Preston's  name  was  called.  Then  he  arose  and  said, 
with  the  unusual  blandness  by  which  we  all  know  when  he 
is  very  much  excited  inwardly: 


10  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

"  As  Miss  Preston  is  not  here  to  respond  for  herselt,  per- 
haps'I  can  best  explain  her  absence  by  reading  a  communi- 
cation I  received  from  her  last  evening.  I  don't  know  as 
she  intended  it  to  be  made  public,"  half  apologetically,  "but 
I  don't  really  understand  what  she  does  mean  sometimes, 
nor  what  to  think  of  her  methods  either  in  teaching  or 
governing." 

Without  further  ado  he  read  the  following  note: 
"  MR.  JOHNSON, 

Respected  Sir :  —  Having  no  particular  taste  for  statistics, 
and  no  special  hope  or  desire  to  undo  the  red  tape  that 
surrounds  our  faculty  meeting,  I  trust  you  will  excuse  my 
absence  from  it  to-morrow,  as  I  intend,  if  the  day  is  bright, 
to  take  my  school  for  a  walk  to  the  woods,  two  or  three 
miles  up  the  river. 

Yours,  Respectfully, 

H.  M.  PRESTON." 

A  dead  silence  ensued,  like  that  which  precedes  a  clap  of 
thunder  on  a  June  day.  Then  Mr.  Johnson  handed  the 
note  to  the  secretary  to  be  filed  among  the  other  archives  of 
the  institution,  with  the  remark  that  "  Perhaps,  since  Miss 
Preston  feels  free  to  criticise  the  manner  and  matter  of  our 
meeting,  we  had  better  ask  her  to  take  charge  of  the  next 
one." 

Some  of  us  fancied  that  his  tone  was  rather  cynical ;  but  ii 
it  was  he  must  have  been  disappointed  at  the  result  of  his 
suggestion,  for  Mr.  Brown  immediately  moved  that  *'  she  be 
requested  to  act  as  president  at  the  next  meeting."  The 
motion  was  instantly  seconded  by  two  voices  and  carried  by 
a  unanimous  vote  of  the  house. 

I  wanted  to  ask  that  she  also  be  requested  to  furnish 


LESSONS  LEARNED  DURING    THE    WALK.  XI 

a  report  of  her  Saturday  in  the  woods,  lor  I  had  a  vague 
idea  that  there  was  something  more  than  a  mere  pleasure 
excursion  in  her  mental  program;  but  courage  failed  me, 
for  I  wouldn't  dare  incur  Mr.  Johnson's  displeasure,  as  I'd 
be  pretty  sure  to  do  if  I  suggested  anything  like  a  "new 
departure,"  be  it  ever  so  tiny.  I  afterward  made  private 
investigations  among  her  pupils  and  —  would  you  believe 
it?  —  I  found  that  she  actually  gave  them  practical  lessons 
in  botany,  from  the  leaves,  shrubs,  and  trees,  as  they  went 
along ;  from  the  location  of  streets,  lots,  and  houses,  she 
taught  geography,  as  well  as  from  the  hills,  river  banks,  etc.; 
she  called  their  attention  to  the  science  of  geology  by  means 
of  the  sand,  gravel,  and  rocks ;  she  cultivated  their  taste 
for  natural  history  by  living  specimens  of  squirrels,  birds, 
and  insects  in  the  woods;  as  if  that  were  not  enough,  she 
inspired  them  with  a  wish  to  study  literature,  by  producing 
a  volume  of  Bryant  and  reading  his  grand  old  "  Forest 
Hymn  "  while  they  were  resting  in  the  woods  before  eating 
their  lunch.  To  finish  with,  she  laid  aside  their  usual  lessons 
and  text  books  the  next  Monday  afternoon,  and  had  her 
entire  school  writing  compositions !  Only,  she  did  not  use 
the  word  composition.  She  merely  said : 

"  Now,  if  you  will  put  away  your  books,  quietly,  you  may 
ea"ch  tell  rne  what  you  saw  or  heard  or  did  last  Saturday, 
that  pleased,  interested,  or  instructed  you.  But  as  there  are 
so  many  of  you,  there  will  not  be  time  for  all  to  speak,  so 
you  may  write  on  your  slates  ;  and  those  who  have  time 
and  wish  to  may  read  what  they  write.  Then  if  any  of 
you  prefer  to  have  me  read  it  for  you  I  will  do  so  sometime 
to-morrow.' 

And  one  little  boy  really  cried  because  his  slate  "  was  full 


I2  PKESTOtf  PAPERS, 

and  he  hadn't  half  finished;  he  wanted  to  tell  about  that 
cunning  lizard  he  saw,"  and  was  only  consoled  by  being 
assured  that  if  no  one  else  wrote  about  it,  he  should  have  a 
chance  another  day. 

It  is  just  wonderful  how  much  she  crowds  into  a  small 
compass ;  and  she  mixes  education  into  everything,  so  that 
half  the  time  the  children  don't  know  whether  they  are 
studying  or  playing. 

But  where  was  I  ?  Oh,  about  our  November  session ! 
Through  carelessness  or  otherwise,  the  secretary  neglected 
to  tell  her  of  her  election  and  consequent  duties,  until  the 
evening  before  the  meeting.  But  she  accepted  the  situation, 
ignoring  the  intended  compliment  or  sarcasm,  or  whatever 
was  meant  by  the  superintendent,  and  after  the  usual  pre- 
liminaries addressed  us  somewhat  as  follows : 
"My  FELLOW  TEACHERS: 

It  is  -with  great  pleasure  that  I  respond  to  the  invitation 
which  came  to  me  at  the  eleventh  hour,  which  tardiness 
would  render  superfluous  any  apology  for  lack  of  requisite 
preparation.  Ours  is  a  noble  calling,  and  they  who  enter 
it  should  be  from  among  the  very  best  types  of  manhood 
and  womanhood.  Questions  of  importance  in  the  common 
cause  should  be  discussed  in  common  council,  with  ample 
opportunity  for  free  expression  of  ideas  and  interchange  of 
personal  experience.  All  can  contribute  something.  Those 
who  have  grown  gray  in  the  honorable  service  can  give  us 
who  are  younger  the  benefit  of  their  wisdom;  those  who 
have  attained  brilliant  successes  in  some  particular  depart- 
ment may  be  glad  to  get  advice  in  some  other;  those  who 
have  failed  anywhere  will  be  glad  to  know  how  to  retrieve 
their  mistakes.  Thus  we  can  be  of  mutual  help  to  each 


TEACHERS  IN  COUNCIL.  !3 

other,  and  the  monthly  association  of  teachers  be  made  to 
do  grand  work  for  the  cause.  Feeling  so  illy  prepared  to 
say  anything  practical  —  and  I'm  daily  becoming  more  con- 
vinced that  nothing  is  worth  saying  in  such  a  place  that  is 
not  practical  —  I  took  the  liberty  to  bring  my  November 
number  of  the  *  Teachers'  Companion '  which  always  has 
something  of  interest." 

She  proceeded  to  read  an  article  on  "School  Manage- 
ment," and  then  asked  us  to  talk  it  over  and  to  give  our  own 
experience;  and  do  you  know  that  we  got  so  well  under  way 
and  so  much  interested,  that  we  never  thought  to  dismiss  at 
the  traditional  hour,  but  stayed  on  and  on,  until  the  light 
became  so  dim  that  we  could  scarcely  see.  It  was  not  a  bit 
formal,  and  I  was  not  at  all  sure  it  would  be  popular;  but 
the  interest  increased  every  moment. 

It  is  strange  how  far  a  little  enthusiasm  will  go  toward 
awakening  an  interest  in  anything.  Carlyle,  I  think  it  is,  says, 
in  effect,  that  to  convince  others  a  man  must  be  thoroughly 
in  earnest,  and  I  believe  it. 

Mr.  Johnson  actually  asked  Miss  Preston  to  continue  in 
the  chair !  This  honor  she  declined  however,  saying,  with 
a  laugh,  that  "  Under  a  republican  form  of  government,  a 
frequent  change  of  administration  is  desirable,  so  that  the 
offices  with  their  emoluments  and  perquisites  can  be  more 
evenly  distributed  among  both  parties ;  "  and  Mr.  Whipple 
was  promoted  to  the  dignity  of  president  for  the  next  meet- 
ing. I  meant  to  tell  you  in  this  about  Miss  Preston's 
"school  museum"  —  but  must  close  this  already-too-long 
letter  from 

Miss  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 


14  PRESTON  PAPERS. 


No.  III. 

PUNISHMENT. 

OLDTOWN,  N.  Y.,  April  22,  188-. 
MR. ,  Supt.,  etc. 

My  Dear  Sir:  —  Your  letter  of  inquiry  is  received,  and 
would  say  in  reply  that  we  all  enjoyed  our  November  meet- 
ing so  well  that  we  determined  to  ask  Mr.  Johnson  to  give 
up  the  old  way  of  conducting  them,  and  let  us  try  the 
"class-meeting"  method  in  its  stead,  which  we  had  found 
so  practical  and  so  really  beneficial  —  for  in  that  one  after- 
noon we  had  gathered  a  rich  harvest  of  ideas  that  were 
utterly  unattainable  in  the  old  routine  of  statistics  heretofore 
pursued  so  unquestioningly;  and  we  had  been  inspired  with 
a  zeal  for  the  work  before  unknown  to  us.  A  committee, 
therefore,  waited  upon  him,  and  after  presenting  some  well 
met  objections,  he  consented  to  let  matters  take  their  course 
for  a  time.  So  we  came  together  for  the  December  meeting 
with  a  feeling  of  enthusiasm  that  was  quite  novel  to  some 
of  us. 

Mr.  Whipple  was  in  the  chair,  and  in  a  few  well  chosen 
words  he  proposed  the  subject  of  Punishment  as  a  nucleus 
around  which  we  might  all  gather,  and  said  that  he  himself 
had  experienced  some  difficulty  in  solving  the  problem  as  to 
whether  we  had  any  right  to  use  the  rod,  but  that  he  found 
less  and  less  occasion  to  use  it  every  year  he  taught. 


WHIPPING,  1 5 

Miss  Wood  was  then  called  upon,  and  she  confessed  that 
she  had  never  yet  attempted  to  administer  corporal  punish- 
ment without  fear  of  personal  consequences  to  herself ! 
It  seemed  quite  easy  to  believe  her,  for  although  large 
of  stature  and  somewhat  advanced  in  years,  she  has  no 
''presence ; "  and  I  can  readily  believe  that  under  her  weak 
administration  the  majesty  of  the  law  would  suffer  contempt. 
Indeed,  I  am  told  by  one  of  her  assistants — she  is  Principal 
of  Grammar  School  No.  5  —  that  she  actually  has  to  "  play 
tag  "  with  any  one  whom  she  sees  fit  to  call  up  for  real  or 
supposed  misdemeanors;  and  when  the  culprit  is  finally 
captured  he  ( Of  course  it  is  always  a  boy.  Girls  go  scot 
free  for  the  same  offense  that  in  a  boy  would  be  deemed 
unpardonable ! )  not  infrequently  defends  himself ;  nay, 
more,  sometimes  even  acting  on  the  aggressive.  Dignified? 
No,  I  don't  think  so.  I  hardly  believe  she  is  capable  of 
inspiring  any  one  with  a  wholesome  degree  of  awe,  nor  do  I 
wonder  that  she  is  afraid  to  whip  a  pupil  and  trembles  for 
the  consequences  when  she  does  it. 

Mr.  Smith  was  the  next  speaker,  and  he  declared  without 
any  hesitation  that  "Whipping  does  no  good  anyway.  It 
does  not  last  and  doesn't  mean  anything  while  it  does  last." 
Verily,  in  his  hands  it  would  not.  He  is  second  assistant 
in  Senior  School  No.  2,  and  his  boys  —  yes,  and  girls  too  — 
run  right  over  him ;  and  in  his  hands  a  rod  would  be  about  as 
effectual  as  rosewater  in  a  revolution !  Why,  only  last  week 
his  botany  class  —  young  ladies  from  fourteen  to  eighteen, 
with  a  few  boys  sprinkled  in  —  demanded  half  a  day  out,  in 
which  to  look  up  specimens;  and  when  he  ventured  the 
feeble  remonstrance  that  it  was  "  too  early  yet,  in  the  season," 
one  of  them  cheerfully  confided  the  fact  that  "  You  might 


x6  PRESTO W  PAPERS. 

as  well  say  '  Yes '  first  as  last,  for  we  are  all  going  to  the 
matine'e  this  afternoon  and  the  botany  was  only  an  excuse!  " 
And  they  went  without  further  parley  !  Fancy  him  trying 
to  bring  any  one  to  time !  Some  people  are  bold  enough  to 
suggest  that  he  ought  to  be  discharged  for  his  incompetency 
(the  very  last  thing  in  the  world  to  discharge  a  teacher  for), 
but  they  are  in  blissful  ignorance  of  the  political  chain 
surrounding  our  school  system  here,  of  which  he  is  an 
important  link.  Somebody  might  lose  a  vote  if  he  were 
discharged,  and  so,  perchance,  lose  an  opportunity  to  feed 
at  the  public  crib !  You  surely  did  not  suppose  we  were 
really  hired  from  the  sole  standpoint  of  merit  ?  Ah,  no. 
This  is  a  progressive  age,  and  that  plan  like  other  obsolete 
customs  is  "  more  honored  in  the  breach  than  in  the  observ- 
ance." Some  of  us  would  not  be  retained  very  long  if  it 
were  otherwise,  although  very  comfortable  as  it  is,  knowing 
that  the  political  influence  of  our  friends  will  not  be  ignored. 

Blessed  be  the  ballot  box,  containing  as  it  does  the  expres- 
sion of  every  American  voter's  unbiased  opinion !  Few, 
indeed,  among  our  number  who  are  not  indebted  to  it  both 
for  position  and  salary.  Long  may  it  wave !  But  I  digress. 
Let  me  find  myself  before  I  get  too  far  lost. 

Miss  Sigourney  was  the  next  speaker.  Her  reputation  is 
that  of  a  rigorous  disciplinarian.  It  is  an  unquestioned 
axiom  that  "Force  without  justice  is  tyranny" — and  judged 
by  this  standard  she  is  no  less  a  tyrant  of  to-day,  than  was 
Nero  of  old,  except  in  degree,  she  never  losing  the  grasp  on 
her  whip  nor  an  opportunity  of  using  it.  To  be  sure  she 
has  an  unruly  set  of  pupils  who  sometimes  break  out  into 
open  rebellion  —  but  I'm  not  at  all  sure  that  she  is  not  at 
least  in  a  measure  responsible  for  it  herself.  Certainly, 


A  RIGOROUS  DISCIPLINARIAN.  17 

nothing  can  be  more  brutalizing  in  its  effect  than  the  con- 
tinued sight  and  sound  of  retribution  administered  to  those 
who  are  powerless  to  help  themselves,  even  when  an  actual 
injustice  is  being  shown  —  as  must  sometimes  be  the  case 
where  the  application  is  so  frequent;  and  occasional  mutiny 
may  be  looked  for,  where  the  teacher  is  at  war  with  child- 
nature.  Of  course  she  advocated  the  free  use  of  Solomon's 
"  Spare  not,"  and  that  in  terms  not  noted  for  any  especial 
tenderness.  There  is  cruelty  in  her  mouth ;  vindictiveness 
in  her  eye ;  resolution  in  her  tramp,  and  subjugation  in  her 
entire  manner.  It  is  enough  to  stir  up  all  the  old  Adam 
there  is  in  any  one,  simply  to  look  at  her.  Perhaps  the 
hardness  of  her  features  may  be  traced  to  the  rocky,  sterile 
soil  of  her  early  home;  but  it  is  doubtless  augmented  by 
her  own  daily  practices  which  cannot  but  leave  their  marks. 
She  looks  like  a  person  that  has  missed  the  best  part  of  life 

—  and  has  become  calloused  and  fossilized  by  an  experience 
that  would  have  made  some  natures  only  the  more  sweet 
and  womanly. 

I  was  next  called  upon,  and  said  with  some  trepidation 
that  ridicule  and  sarcasm  were  as  good  instruments  as  any  I 
had  ever  tried  in  the  way  of  punishment.  Miss  Preston 
was  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  room,  but  her  impatience  to 
speak  was  plainly  visible ;  even  at  that  distance  I  could  see 
her  eyes  flash  and  her  brows  knit  while  waiting  for  her 
turn  to  come,  and  then  how  perfectly  regal  she  looked  as 
she  denounced  theory  after  theory !  When  she  reached  the 
climax  I  was  fairly  awed  by  her  manner!  Would  I  could 
give  you  the  burning  words  just  as  they  came  from  her  lips 

—  but  I  can  scarcely  do  even  faint  justice  to  the  ideas  that 
must  lose  so  much  of  their  intensity  in  the  printed  page 

a 


iS  'PRESTON  PAPERS. 

and  from  whose  freshness  and  originality  so  much  is  taken 
by  repetition. 

"Some  of  you  argue,"  said  she,  "against  corporal  punish- 
ment because  of  its  cruelty;  but  you  advocate  in  its  stead 
raillery,  ridicule,  sarcasm,  arid  contempt.  You  are  afraid  to 
leave  the  marks  of  corporal  punishment  on  the  bodies  of 
your  pupils;  but  you  do  not  hesitate  to  inflict  on  their  souls 
wounds  that  can  never  be  healed  by  any  poultice  save  that 
of  love  and  tenderness,  and  whose  scars  will  last  thro'  life. 
If  corporal  punishment  is  pronounced  brutal  and  degrading, 
what  shall  you  say  of  mental  punishment,  which  is  so  painful 
to  sensitive  natures  and  deadening  to  stubborn  ones  ?  " 

"  Perhaps  Miss  Preston  will  favor  us  with  some  sugges- 
tions," came  from  the  Chair. 

Miss  PKESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 


PUNISHMENT. 


No.  IV. 

PUNISHMENT  (  Continued}. 

"Well,  I  do  not  believe  entirely  in  the  sugar  plum  system,' 
she  said  ;  "  although  I  find  but  few  who  are  not  more  easily 
led  than  driven  ;  very  few  on  whom  kindness  is  thrown 
away.  But  I  do  sometimes  find  two  classes  of  troublesome 
children  :  spoiled  children,  who  have  to  be  dealt  with  very 
firmly,  although  in  all  kindness  ;  and  neglected  children, 
those  who  have  no  good  home  influences  —  these  require 
gentler  treatment,  and  in  no  case  would  I  sneer  at  them.  I 
would  be  very  careful  even  how  I  rallied  them,  or  made 
tools  of  their  feelings  for  any  purpose.  A  child's  feelings 
are  too  delicate  for  rough  or  frequent  handling.  Bulwer 
touches  upon  this  point  when  he  says :  '  Our  feelings,  espe- 
cially in  youth,  resemble  that  leaf  which  is  described  by 
some  old  traveler  as  expanding  itself  to  warmth  ;  but  when 
chilled,  not  only  shrinking  and  closing  but  presenting  to  the 
spectator  thorns  which  had  before  lain  concealed  upon  the 
opposite  side  of  it.'  All  punishment  should  depend,  not 
only  upon  the  offense  itself  but  also  upon  the  character  and 
motive  of  the  offender.  We  are  too  often  ourselves  to 
blame  for  the  perverseness  and  disobedience  of  our  pupils, 
by  our  lack  of  tact  in  administering  censure  when  it  becomes 
necessary;  by  the  uncalled  for  and  unwise  parade  of  our 
suspicions,  which  frequently  prove  unjust;  by  the  threats 


20  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

which  we  make  and  do  not  mean  to  put  into  execution,  and 
which  we  would  not  if  we  could ;  by  the  futile  attempt  to 
practice  upon  theories  whose  fundamental  principles  are  not 
understood,  as  well  as  our  neglect  of  those  that  are  seen  to 
be  right,  having  been  dictated  with  common  sense  for  their 
basis ;  by  our  lack  of  self-control,  without  which  no  one  of 
us  has  any  right  to  assume  the  control  of  others  ;  and  by 
sacrificing  ends  to  means  in  general." 

We  were  spell-bound.  Not  pne  of  us  but  felt  the  truth  of 
her  impressive  home  thrusts,  and  not  one  other  that  would 
have  dared  venture  to  make  the  same  remarks. 

"  How  would  you  govern  bad  children,  then  ?  " 

"  In  two  ways :  Negatively  —  by  not  acting  as  though  I 
thought  that  total  depravity  was  a  foregone  conclusion  and 
that  I  was  elected  to  take  vengeance  for  it ;  positively — by 
a  firm  belief  in  the  possibility  of  reformation  ;  by  striving 
to  aid  its  accomplishment  through  kindness,  self  respect, 
and  trust.  Like  the  old  man  in  the  spelling  book,  I  would 
first  try  the  effect  of  kind  words ;  these  failing  I  would  use 
grass,  and  only  as  a  last  resort,  stones." 

"  Then  you  would  use  corporal  punishment  occasionally  ?  " 
(This  from  Miss  Sigourney.) 

"Yes  —  but  only  under  the  greatest  restriction,  and  in  a 
rational  way  and  amount ;  generally  in  private,  and  but  very 
seldom  immediately  after  the  offense." 

"  Why  ?  Please  give  your  reasons  for  the  last  two 
conditions." 

"  In  private  ( unless  the  nature  of  the  wrong  requires 
public  reprimand )  both  because  it  is  too  humiliating  to  the 
offender,  and  too  hardening  in  its  influence  upon  the  rest. 
Not  immediately,  because  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  the  real 


RESTRICTIONS  UPON  CORPORAL  PUNISHMENT.    2I 

reason  we  whip  a  child  is  because  we  lose  our  own  temper, 
and  by  waiting  we  may  find  it.  I  do  not  say  we  should 
never  be  angry,  for  a  righteous  indignation  is  never  out  of 
place,  if  directed  against  anything  cruel,  mean,  or  dishonest; 
but  if  we  wait  a  while,  we  shall  see  the  extenuating  circum- 
stances, if  there  are  any,  and  be  more  apt  to  administer 
justice  with  less  of  personal  feeling.  The  very  best  strategy 
we  can  use  in  meeting  any  evil  habit  is  to  put  in  a  good  one 
to  counteract  it.  Still,  there  may  be  natures  that  can  be 
reached  by  nothing  else  so  effectually  as  by  a  decent  amount 
of  whipping  ( only  we  must  be  too  wise  to  be  arbitrary  or 
despotic ).  J.  G.  Holland  must  have  met  with  just  such  a 
character  before  writing  '  Nicholas  Minturn,'  as  he  describes 
in  his  inimitable  way  a  boy  of  that  class.  The  boy  had 
been  educated  in  the  streets,  and  the  spiritual  pabulum  he 
received  in  the  Sunday  School  had  been  of  the  sickly,  senti- 
mental sort  that  had  left  him  a  complete  bully,  and  a  coward 
as  well  —  the  one  characteristic  usually  accompanying  the 
other.  But  it  so  happened  that  once  upon  a  time  he  learned 
that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  a  limit  to  human  patience,  and 
the  lesson  was  not  lost.  He  had  worried  his  Sunday  School 
teacher  during  the  entire  session  and  then  followed  her 
home,  snowballing  her  on  the  way.  Reaching  the  front  steps, 
she  turned  around  and  smilingly  invited  him  to  'Come  in.' 
He  was  nothing  loth,  having  experienced  just  such  a  sugar- 
and-water  return  for  his  brutality  to  others  before;  so,  slyly 
winking  to  a  companion  outside,  and  promising  to  divide 
the  expected  spoil,  he  entered  with  her.  She  ushered  him 
into  a  luxuriously  furnished  parlor  and  bade  him  amuse 
himself  while  she  went  up  stairs  to  lay  aside  her  hat  and 
cloak.  He  did  so  and  became  so  thoroughly  engrossed  in 


22  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

contemplation  of  the  works  of  art  and  ornament  before 
him,  as  well  as  by  his  own  sense  of  smartness  in  having  once 
more  secured  a  premium  for  his  abuse  of  kindness,  that  he 
did  not  know  she  had  returned  until  he  felt  his  head  drawn 
back  by  the  hair,  held  in  a  firm  and  unrelenting  grasp  by 
the  lily  white  fingers  of  one  delicate  hand  of  his  teacher, 
while  she  used  the  other,  with  some  emphasis,  on  his  face, 
leaving  a  wholesome  sting  after  every  blow.-  He  was  too 
much  astonished  to  resent  it,  and  when  she  dismissed  him 
with  a  few  incisive  words,  he  left  her  presence  a  changed 
being  in  one  respect,  and  her  devoted  champion  ever  after." 
This  brought  the  meeting  to  an  end,  as  I  must  my  letter, 
which  is  already  too  lopg,  and  I  have  not  mentioned  one 
word  about  the  "  Museum  "  yet !  However,  it  will  keep 
until  you  again  hear  from 

Miss  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 


THE  MUSEUM. 


No.  V. 

THE    MUSEUM. 

OLDTOWN,  N.  Y.,  Aug.  18,  188-. 
MR. ,  State  Supt.  Public  Instruction. 

My  Dear  Sir :  —  Hoping  that  you  can  make  use  of  this, 
in  your  talks  with  teachers,  I  want  to  tell  you  about  our 
museum,  for  it  certainly  has  been  a  wonderful  "help"  in 
our  school,  and  mayhap  some  other  teacher  knowing  of  it 
may  be  persuaded  to  go  and  do  likewise. 

At  the  left  of  the  hall  as  we  enter  our  schoolroom  is  a 
closet  which  has  been  used  as  a  sort  of  storeroom  from  time 
immemorial.  Early  in  the  fall  term,  while  Miss  Preston  was 
yet  a  stranger,  practically,  she  requested  one  of  the  boys 
to  stay  after  school  one  night  and  help  her.  Now  it  so 
happened  ( or  did  she  plan  it  for  his  benefit  ? )  that  he  was 
one  who,  by  his  disobedient  and  unruly  spirit,  had  given 
her  numerous  predecessors  much  trouble,  both  by  his  own 
conduct  and  by  his  evil  influence  over  those  who,  if  left  to 
themselves  would  be  harmless,  but  who  are  always  foremost 
in  a  mob  of  any  kind.  So  we  were  somewhat  surprised  at 
her  selection,  although  as  yet  none  of  us  had  any  idea  of 
the  nature  or  amount  of  help  required  by  our  principal,  for 

Miss  Preston  is  one  of  those  rare  worn spirits,  I  mean, 

who  do  not  publish  all  their  plans,  even  to  their  "  dear  five 
hundred  "  friends. 


24  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

However,  we  were  rather  indifferent,  for  up  to  this  time  we 
subordinates  had  not  felt  any  particular  "  kinship  of  soul " 
for  the  young  stranger  who  had  been  given  one  of  the  best 
positions  in  the  city — and  that,  too,  right  over  the  heads  of  so 
many  of  us  who  were  older  and  whose  years  of  faithful  toil 
were  thereby  completely  ignored;  and  we  were  not  going  to 
be  surprised  if  she  did  spring  a  wasps'  nest ;  nor  would  we 
offer  one  friendly  suggestion  to  prevent  any  catastrophe 
which  our  peculiar  talents  for  forecasting  trouble  had  shown 
would  be  inevitable.  All  that  we  were  waiting  for  was  the 
opportunity  to  say  calmly,  but  with  none  the  less  triumph : 
" I  told  you  so  !  "  (I  may  as  well  add,  right  here,  that  the 
golden  opportunity  never  came,  and  we  are  now  somewhat 
abashed  to  think  we  ever  wished  for  it.) 

But  I  am  getting  too  far  from  that  closet,  which  surprised 
us  the  next  morning  by  its  complete  transformation.  The 
blinds,  heretofore  closed,  were  now  open ;  the  window  had 
been  cleaned  and  was  shaded  by  a  pretty,  although  inex- 
pensive, lambrequin  of  blue  and  gray  cretonne;  the  shelves 
were  also  clean  and  covered  with  blue  paper  of  the  same 
shade  as  the  lambrequin.  The  old  brooms,  kindling  wood, 
coal  scuttle,  dust  pan,  waste  paper,  etc.,  that  had  always  held 
undisputed  possession  of  the  floor,  were  nowhere  visible. 
History  has  since  revealed  the  fact — through  the  lips  of  the 
janitor — that  they  were  banished  to  the  furnace  basement. 

Miss  Preston  had  not  arrived  when  I  entered  the  school- 
room, but  James  Moore  soon  came  in  (  He  always  used  to  be 
"  Jimmed,"  but  Miss  Preston  never  calls  any  of  the  pupils 
by  any  other  than  their  proper  names.  She  says  it  is  not 
courteous,  nor  respectful  to  the  wish  of  those  who  gave  them 
the  name,  and  that  it  has  a  tendency  to  lower  the  tone  of  a 


0 

NICKNAMES— MUSEUM  INTRODUCED.  25 

child's  morals  by  lessening  its  self-respect;  and  gradually 
we  have  left  off  substituting  "  Maggie,  Matie,  Sammy,  Tom, 
Dick,  and  Harry,"  for  Margaret,  Mary,  Samuel,  Thomas, 
Richard,  and  Henry);  and  then  the  questions  plied  loudly 
and  rapidly.  At  first  he  evaded  them,  but  when  Agatha 
Breese  said  in  her  contemptuous  way :  *'  If  you  were  much 
of  a  gentleman  you  would  not  treat  a  lady's  questions  in 
this  way  ;  "  he  straightened  himself  up  and  said,  with  more 
manliness  and  force  of  character  than  I  ever  saw  him  exhibit 
before :  , 

"  I  am  too  much  of  a  gentleman  to  betray  anybody's  con- 
fidence. Miss  Preston  did  not  consider  it  necessary  to  ask 
me  not  to  tell  her  plans ;  and  as  she  trusted  me,  I  mean  to 
show  myself  worthy  of  it ; "  and  such  is  the  power  of  one 
strong  will  in  a  crowd  that  not  another  question  was  asked, 
although  such  exclamations  as  "  I  wonder,"  "  I  guess,"  and 
"  I  hope,"  were  numerous. 

We  had  not  long  to  wait,  however,  for  just  before  recess 
that  day  she  struck  the  signal  for  ** Order,"  and  then  said: 

"  My  dear  pupils,  I  have  a  plan  in  which  I  hope  you  will 
be  interested,  as  it  may  become  a  source  of  much  pleasure 
as  well  as  profit.  You  doubtless  see  and  hear  of  many 
things,  every  day,  both  in  nature  and  art,  which  you  do  not 
fully  understand,  some,  perhaps,  of  which  you  know  nothing; 
and  I  propose  to  make  use  of  our  closet  as  a  cabinet  or 
museum,  to  hold  such  specimens  as  you  may  collect  from 
time  to  time  for  study  and  classification.  We  will  have 
each  article  properly  labeled  and  catalogued  with  as  full  a 
description  as  we  can  obtain.  I  have  provided  a  large 
blank  book  for  that  purpose  and  mean  to  divide  the  work 
of  keeping  the  entries  amjng  those  of  you  who  wish.  Af 


26  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

a  beginning  I  have  brought,  for  contribution,  a  few  things 
which  you  are  at  liberty  to  examine  aud  talk  about  during 
recess." 

So  saying  she  placed  on  her  desk  a  piece  of  coral,  a  stick 
of  sealing  wax,  some  cotton  seeds,  and  a  pod  containing  a 
small  quantity  of  cotton,  a  chromo,  some  steel  filings,  a 
whale's  tooth,  some  silver  ore,  a  slate  pencil,  and  a  piece  of 
mahogany. 

The  "  Museum,"  ast  a  matter  of  course,  became  the  chief 
topic  of  Conversation  from  that  moment,  and  when  the 
pupils  returned  after  the  noon  intermission,  they  were  laden 
with  specimens  for  it  from  things  common  and  familiar,  and 
some  that  were  not  as  well  known.  Intelligent  thought  was 
awakened,  and  the  pupils  thought,  talked,  and  read,  to  some 
purpose.  Spare  moments  have  been  spent  by  all  of  us  in  a 
diligent  search  for  information  in  dictionaries,  cyclopaedias, 
works  of  natural  history,  the  sciences,  etc.,  and  now  the 
collection  has  become  a  large  and  really  valuable  as  well  as 
interesting  one,  having  had  several  contributions  from  those 
outside  of  the  school,  who  had  become  interested  by  seeing 
or  hearing  of  it. 

And  the  Museum  has  helped  govern  our  school,  providing 
occupation  for  the  mind  and  body,  filling  up  time  that  might 
have  been  spent  in  idleness  or  in  plotting  mischief,  and 
finally  by  knitting  together  in  warm  friendship  the  hearts  of 
pupil  and  teacher,  those  who,  alas !  too  often  stand  in  the 
lamentable  position  of  antagonists.  Think  you  the  child 
who  is  called  upon  to  assist  or  allowed  in  any  way  to  partici- 
pate in  things  of  this  kind  will  betray  the  confidence  of  the 
teacher  whose  love  and  wisdom  originated  it  ?  I  tell  you 
"  Nay."  There  is  no  such  thing  as  total  depravity. 


EFFECTS   OF    THE   MUSEUM.  2j 

"But  does  it  pay?"  I  heard  Miss  Wood  ask  of  Miss 
Preston  last  spring.  "  You  are  looking  worn  and  thin,  and 
all  this  extra  work  seems  to  me  like  giving  '  too  many  oats 
for  a  shilling  ; '  it  will  never  be  appreciated  outside  of  your 
pupils  —  doubtful  if  even  they  do  so  before  they  are  forty; 
and  the  trustees  will  never  make  the  humane  discovery  that 
you  are  working  beyond  your  strength,  as  well  as  beyond 
your  salary." 

Tears  actually  stood  in  Miss  Preston's  eyes  as  she  replied 
softly:  "Yes,  it  pays  a  thousand-fold,  if  by  this  means  even 
one  child  is  brought  into  closer  communion  with  Nature, 
and  led  to  a  higher  conception  of  the  Infinite  Wisdom  that 
planned  and  created  it  for  our  use  and  enjoyment.  As  for 
myself,  /'/  is  my  work.  I  love  it  and  have  chosen  it — because 
I  love  it  —  in  preference  to  everything  else;  and  anything 
that  I  can  do  to  promote  the  welfare  of  my  school  is  not  too 
dear,  even  at  the  expense  of  some  of  my  time  and  strength 
beyond  the  six  hours  per  diem  for  which  I  am  legally 
responsible." 

And  right  here  I  must  add,  in  justice  to  the  above-men- 
tioned gentlemen,  the  trustees,  that  at  their  July  meeting, 
they,  voluntarily  and  without  a  hint  from  any  one,  increased 
Miss  Preston's  salary  for  the  coming  year,  making  it  nine 
hundred  instead  of  seven  hundred  dollars.  Verily,  all  trus- 
tees are  not  deaf  as  well  as  blind,  nor  are  all  their  hearts 
ossified !  (  Teachers  will  please  make  a  note  of  this  discov- 
ery. EDITOR.) 

But  I  must  tell  you  "how"  and  then  close.  Our  closet 
is  eminently  suitable  for  the  purpose,  having  a  window  at 
one  end,  a  door  at  the  other,  and  shelves  on  either  side 
with  cupboards  beneath  them.  Pasteboard  of  different 


28  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

colors  has  been  used  for  cutting  out  letters  to  designate  the 
animal,  vegetable,  and  mineral  kingdoms,  and  the  specimens 
are  grouped  accordingly,  numbered,  and  the  corresponding 
number  placed  in  the  catalogue,  together  with  the  date  of 
entry,  name  of  the  contributor,  and  as  complete  a  descrip- 
tion as  can  be  obtained.  Many  of  the  children  have  note 
books,  in  which  they  write  about  anything  that  specially 
pleases  or  interests  them,  and  thus  the  foundation  is  laid 
for  many  a  composition  —  which,  by  the  way,  Miss  Preston 
succeeds  in  getting  from  all  her  pupils  without  any  of  the 
usual  "  scuffles  "  over  it. 

Yours  Truly, 

Miss  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 


THE  SCHOOLROOM.  29 


No.  VI. 

RESPONSIBILITY. 

OLDTOWN,  N.  Y.,  Sept.  29,  188-. 
MR. ,  Supt.  Public  Instruction. 

My  Very  Dear  Sir :  —  Miss  Preston  always  seems  to  have 
an  idea  that  the  schoolroom  should  be  made  and  kept  not 
only  clean  and  comfortable  but  pleasant ;  and  her  innova- 
tions in  this  direction  have  been  simply  wonderful  —  at  the 
same  time  they  have  been  so  wonderfully  simple  that  they 
may  be  brought  about  by  any  teacher  who  will  act  upon 
Mrs.  Chick's  advice  to  Mrs.  Dombey,  and  "  Make  an  effort, 
Louisa !  " 

So  far  as  I  personally  am  concerned  I  do  not  believe 
it  essential  to  correct  parsing  that  every  atom  of  dirt  be 
rendered  invisible;  nor  can  I  see  any  relation  between  apple 
cores  and  paper  wads  on  the  floor  and  ceiling  and  idleness, 
whispering,  mischief,  and  unlearned  lessons.  But  then,  I'm 
no  logician,  and  Miss  Preston  is,  and  when  she  begins  to 
reason  about  cause  and  effect,  and  to  bring  tangible  and 
incontrovertible  prool  to  substantiate  her  argument,  I  am 
obliged  to  acquiesce  —  or  seem  to,  at  least.  "A  man  con- 
vinced against  his  will,"  etc. 

Nearly  a  year  ago  I  was  much  surprised  to  hear  Miss 
Preston  tell  Mr.  Johnson  that  she  wanted  some  new  curtains, 
a  thermometer,  and  a  waste  paper  basket  for  her  schoolroom. 


3o  PRESTON  PAPERS, 

He  opened  his  eyes,  rather  at  the  character  than  at  the 
number  of  her  requests,  then  blandly  informed  her  that  he'd 
refer  her  items  to  the  "committee  on  incidentals"  —  and 
would  you  believe  it  ?  In  less  than  a  week  she  had  all  three ! 
They  called  a  special  meeting  to  consider  her  wants,  and 
cited  her  to  appear  and  state  her  reasons  for  the  same. 

"  Curtains !  "  said  Mr.  Seeley,  "  are  there  no  blinds  to 
your  windows?" 

"  Yes,  sir.  But  when  they  are  open  the  light  is  so  strong 
as  to  be  dazzling;  and  when  closed,  they  not  only  make  the 
room  too  dark,  but  they  also  hinder  ventilation.  I  have 
observed  that  many  of  the  older  pupils  are  near-sighted;  and 
I  wish  them  to  have  as  good  light  as  is  possible,  for  I  believe 
that  much  of  this  trouble  is  due  to  the  poor  or  insufficient 
light  at  school.  Many,  too,  show  indications  of  catarrh  and 
lung  trouble,  and  these  are  always  aggravated  by  impure 
air.  I  find  the  sunlight  a  very  necessary  auxiliary  in  keep- 
ing the  children  well  and  cheerful  while  at  their  work ;  but 
at  times  it  needs  to  be  somewhat  moderated  in  its  intensity, 
and  this  is  best  done  by  means  of  a  light  cloth  shade  that 
will  not  exclude  the  light." 

After  a  short  whispered  conversation  they  voted  a  unani- 
mous "  Aye  "  to  that  request. 

"  But  what  in  the  world  do  you  want  of  a  thermometer  ? " 

Without  showing  the  least  annoyance  she  explained  that 
also : 

"  As  my  duties  keep  me  on  my  feet  and  give  me  more  or 
less  exercise,  I  am  not  the  best  judge  of  the  temperature 
proper  for  those  who  are  sitting  and  whose  circulation  is 
therefore  imperfect.  That  hinders  digestion,  causing  head- 
ache, etc.  We  do  not  expect  a  chain  to  support  a  greater 


CLEANLINESS— HEALTH— HABITS.  31 

weight  than  will  its  weakest  link;  and  when  a  child's 
physique  is  dwarfed,  stunted,  or  weakened,  we  need  not 
look  for  activity  of  brain." 

That  argument  proved  a  clincher,  and  when  Mr.  Hoi- 
brook  reported  favorably  on  that  matter,  he  suggested 
mischievously : 

"  I  suppose  you  have  some  sanitary  reason  for  wishing  a 
waste  paper  basket,  too,  or  is  it  merely  a  moral  one  ?  " 

"  Both,"  she  replied  promptly.  "  Cleanliness  is  not  only 
'next  to  godliness,'  but  is  also  one  of  the  first  and  best 
means  of  preserving  .health.  Consistency  would  prevent 
me  from  insisting  on  personal  neatness  among  my  pupils, 
if  my  floor  were  allowed  to  become  untidy.  Besides,  the 
habits  of  childhood  and  youth  go  with  us  through  life,  and 
a  teacher  has  a  grave  responsibility  in  helping  form  those 
habits." 

She  had  scarcely  finished  when  Mr.  Russell,  as  chairman 
of  the  committee,  exclaimed  : 

"  You  shall  have  the  basket,  Miss  Preston,  and  the  curtains, 
and  the  thermometer,  or  anything  else  you  want  for  your 
school  while  I  have  a  dollar  in  my  purse.  If  we  have  finally 
found  a  teacher  who  will  really  show  some  interest  in  the 
pupils  beyond  a  salaried  or  text-book  interest,  we  will  stand 
by  her  to  a  unit." 

He  sat  down  and  Miss  Preston  spoke  again : 

"Teachers  are  not  always  so  indifferent  as  they  seem;  but 
they  are  sometimes  in  error  as  to  where  the  duties  of  parents 
leave  off  and  their  own  begin.  They  do  not  want  to  seem 
officious,  and  if  Edward  comes  to  school  with  unwashed 
face  and  uncombed  hair,  they  are  diffident  about  speaking 
of  it,  for  fear  of  hurting  some  sensitive  mother's  feelings  — 


32  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

forgetful,  mayhap,  that  Edward's  mother  has  a  family  of 
several  to  look  after  and  that,  in  the  multiplicity  of  duties 
incumbent  upon  her,  she  almost  necessarily  neglected  to 
look  out  for  Edward's  finger  nails,  teeth,  etc.,  but  who  at 
the  same  time  would  be  glad  to  know  that  her  little  boy 
was  receiving  a  proper  education  upon  this  subject,  as  well 
as  upon  the  boundaries,  capital,  and  government  of  his 
country." 

"  True,  Miss  Preston.  And  yet  our  experience  has  led  us 
to  believe  that  as  a  rule  teachers  think  their  duties  ended 
with  the  lessons  in  the  text  books,  forgetting  that  the  great 
lessons  of  life  are  not  found  therein.  They  are  '  hired '  at 
so  much  per  annum,  so  many  hours  per  diem,  and  for  such 
and  such  purposes.  These  conditions  fulfilled  to  the  letter, 
they  have  no  further  interest  in  the  young  immortals  com- 
mitted to  their  care,  and  to  whom  they  stand  in  loco  parentis." 

"  Now  I  do  not  think  you  do  us  justice  as  a  class,  although 
I  am  aware  that  some  enter  the  profession  without  any 
appreciation  of  the  responsibilities  or  opportunities  for  good 
that  are  theirs.  But  is  this  not  true  in  every  walk  of  life  ? 
Does  every  physician  realize  that  he  may  be  a  home  mission- 
ary ?  Will  every  lawyer  plead  only  on  the  side  of  justice  ? 
Does  every  editor  use  his  voice  and  pen  only  for  right  ? 
There  are  laborers  and  shirks  in  every  vineyard ;  and  of 
course,  our  calling  is  not  an  exception." 

Well  —  since  then  our  schoolroom  has  been  literally  trans- 
formed by  pictures,  brackets,  plants,  and  a  careful  janitor. 
And  yet  there  was  no  friction  about  it.  It  came  about  in  the 
most  natural  way  imaginable.  Miss  Preston  one  morning 
brought  a  jar  containing  a  pink  primrose  in  blossom,  and 
put  it  on  the  window  stool.  After  school  one  of  the  girls 


RESULTS  ACCOMPLISHED.  33 

asked  if  she  might  water  it,  and  on  receiving  peruiL  ion, 
said: 

"If  you'd  like  a  Madeira  vine  to  train  around  this  scuth 
window,  I'll  bring  you  one  in  the  morning." 

And  she  did.  Then  some  one  brought  a  fuchsia,  another 
a  geranium ;  and  so  the  leaven  worked  until  every  window 
was  made  beautiful  with  the  "  Green  things  growing "  of 
which  dear  Dinah  Muloch  sings. 

Later  she  brought  a  dozen  illuminated  mottoes,  and  hung 
them  on  the  walls;  then  came  a  picture  from  one  of  the  boys, 
tendered  half  shyly  "  to  help  "  as  he  said.  Others  followed, 
lending  what  they  had  not  permission  to  give.  And  the 
contents  of  the  waste  paper  basket  were  stored  in  the  base- 
ment in  barrels,  and  at  the  end  of  the  term  sold  to  buy  more 
pictures  !  Economy  and  aesthetics,  all  by  means  of  a  fifty 
cent  basket ! 

What  is  the  effect  of  all  this  ? 

No  truancy  for  one  thing.  One  lady  tells  about  her  boy  of 
twelve  years  crying  because  his  father  kept  him  out  of  school 
during  the  busy  week  preceding  the  holidays,  to  help  in  his 
store. 

Good  lessons  and  learned  without  urging  is  another  result. 
The  children  hunger  and  thirst  to  know. 

And  a  strong,  warm  bond  of  friendship  between  teacher 
and  pupil  is  another  result.  "  Governing  "  is  easy,  and  the 
whole  machinery  moves  without  a  jog. 

I  meant  to  tell  you  about  her  daily  "Five  Minute  Lec- 
tures "  on  etiquette,  current  news,  science,  books,  etc.,  but 
can  not  now. 

Yours  Truly, 

Miss  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 


34  PRESTON  PAPERS. 


No.  VII. 
GEOGRAPHY. 

OLDTOWN,  N.  Y.,  Oct.  13,  188- 
MR. ,  State  Supt.  Public  Instruction. 

My  Dear  Sir :  —  Of  a  truth  "great  minds  run  in  the  same 
channel,"  for  the  subject  under  discussion  at  our  Teachers' 
Meeting  in  September  was  that  of  Geography,  and  behold, 
when  I  received  your  last  favor  it  contained  the  call  for  our 
experience  on  that  topic.  I  had  been  wishing  for  an  excuse 
to  give  you,  in  epitome,  Miss  Preston's  ideas  on  that  very 
subject,  and  now  believe  that  the  excuse  is  no  longer  lacking. 

The  teachers  in  the  primary  grade  were  first  called  upon, 
then  the  junior,  intermediate,  senior  and  grammar  school 
teachers  —  for  geography  is  taught  on  each  separate  round 
of  the  ladder,  not  excepting  the  High  School.  Miss  Preston 
had  charge  of  the  meeting  that  day,  and  consequently  said 
nothing,  as  one  after  another  arose  to  give  his  or  her  experi- 
ence —  for  that  is  how  our  conferences  are  being  conducted 
now  —  nor  did  she  take  any  part  in  the  "free  parliament" 
which  follows  each  one's  speech,  essay  or  paper.  By  request 
of  Mr.  Johnson,  however,  she  came  in  beautifully  on  the 
"  Amen  "  end  of  the  question,  somewhat  as  follows  : 
Fellow  Teachers : 

It  has  always  seemed  to  me  that  too  much  time  is  spent 
in  teaching  geography.  We  begin  it  in  the  Primary  Depart- 


HO W  TO    TEACH  IT.  35 

ment  and  continue  it  throughout  the  entire  graduating 
course,  increasing  the  dose  each  year,  "  according  to  the 
age  of  the  patient,"  as  the"  medical  prescriptions  read,  until 
by  the  time  the  boy  or  girl  is  ready  for  the  High  School,  he 
or  she  has  consumed  many  hours  in  swallowing  geography 
that  should  have  been  given  to  something  else. 

Again  ;  it  is  made  of  too  much  importance.  Geography 
might  be  easily  taught  as  an  incidental,  which  is  all  it  is. 
In  teaching  history  the  places  referred  to  should  be  looked 
up  and  as  much  as  possible  learned  from  maps,  cyclopaedias, 
etc.,  by  the  pupils.  This  knowledge  should  be  supple- 
mented by  the  teacher — every  teacher  being  a  complete 
storehouse  of  geographical  as  well  as  other  knowledge  — 
and  questions  asked  that  will  elicit  what  they  have  learned. 
So  in  reading.  If  the  reading  lesson  refers  to  any  country 
or  product  or  people,  or  to  any  natural  or  political  division 
of  land  or  water,  the  lesson  should  not  be  considered  u  fin- 
ished "  merely  because  well  read,  and  the  definitions  — 
usually  '*  blind  leaders  of  the  blind  " —  promptly  given ;  but 
a  careful  description  should  be  given  by*  the  teacher  who 
should  call  for  a  written  or  oral  report  of  the  same  next  day 
by  the  class.  Geography,  as  a  secondary  matter,  may  be 
combined  with  many  other  studies,  and  successfully  taught 
and  learned  with  comparatively  little  waste  of  time. 

Again ;  there  is  too  much  "  book  geography "  and  too 
little  real.  There  are  too  many  verbatim  recitations  required 
about  things  but  half  understood.  I  visited  a  summer 
school  during  my  last  vacation,  where  the  first  class  that 
recited  after  my  entrance  was  one  in  geography  —  eleven 
little  boys  and  girls  who  answered,  glibly  and  perfectly, 
about  the  products  and  exports  of  Brazil,  and  who  correctly 


36  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

gave  the  boundaries  and  capital  cities  of  nearly  every  South 
American  division. 

Evidently  the  teacher  was  very  proud  of  the  parrot-like 
recitations,  for  she  turned  to  me  with  glowing  cheeks  and 
flashing  eyes,  inquiring  if  I  did  not  "  think  they  do  pretty 
well  for  so  young  children ?  "  "I  do  not  remember  that 
they  have  varied  by  a  hair's  breadth  from  the  text,"  I  replied. 
"  Nor  would  they  if  you  were  to  begin  at  the  first  page  and 
question  them  up  to  where  they  are  now  studying,"  she 
replied  proudly. 

I  was  horrified!  Cramming  a  child's  memory  with  words 
which  he  does  not  understand,  facts  which  are  beyond  his 
comprehension,  and  dates  and  figures  that  have  no  meaning 
in  them  except  as  so  much  mental  torture  for  nothing ! 

"Try  it,"  she  urged,  "ask  anything  you  like." 

I  shrank  instinctively  for  I  knew  that  the  result  would  be 
confusing  to  the  pupils  and  embarrassing  to  her,  if  I  stepped 
ever  so  slightly  from  the  path  of  rote  work.  She  persisted, 
and  I  turned  in  despair  to  a  thin  faced,  white  haired  little 
boy  whose  bright  eyes  and  quick,  nervous  movement  had  first 
attracted  my  attention,  and  later,  whose  prompt,  decisive 
replies  had  called  out  an  encomium  from  his  —  shall  I  say 
it?  —  injudicious  teacher. 

"You  are  the  little  boy  who  recited  about  the  products  of 
Brazil,"  said  I,  "now  can  you  tell  me  what  you  mean  by 
'  products  ? '  " 

He  began  an  enumeration  of  the  products  again,  but  I 
said : 

"  No ;  you  do  not  understand  me,  I  think.  When  you 
speak  of  '  products  '  what  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"Those  are  the  products  I  just  told  you,"  he  reaffirmed. 


MISS  PRESTON'S  PLAN. 


37 


u  Yes,  that  is  true  ;  but  if  I  ask  you  to  tell  me  what  the 
word  means,  will  you  explain  it  to  me  ?  Play  that  I  am  a 
little  girl  and  do  not  know  anything  about  that  big  word. 
Can  you  help  me  understand  it  ?  " 

He  was  silent,  but  smiled  faintly  at  the  idea  of  playing 
anything  in  school.  Presently  a  little  hand  went  up  on  the 
seat  next  to  his,  and  I  said  to  the  little  girl  who  raised  it : 

"  Perhaps  Julia  will  tell  me  ? " 

"Please,  ma'am,  the  products  is  the  answer  we  get  by 
multiplying  in  our  arithmetics,"  was  the  timid  response,  and 
a  look  of  uncertain  triumph  at  Henry. 

I  did  not  despair  —  but  is  it  not  pitiful  that  teachers  do 
not  make  things  more  real  to  their  pupils  ?  Page  after  page 
is  memorized  mechanically  —  and  iV  of  no  use.  I  have  my 
doubts  about  giving  children  a  text  book  at  all  for  this 
study ;  certainly  not  until  they  are  old  enough  to  appreciate 
the  reason  why  the  Mississippi  River  flows  into  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  as  well  as  the  fact  that  it  is  so. 

"  What,  then,  is  your  plan  ?  "  inquired  Miss  Sigourney. 

"Well,  I  would  have  maps  and  charts  on  the  wall  for 
ready  reference  in  each  department.  I  would  have  books 
of  history,  travel  and  description  from  which  1  would  give 
them  'bits'  of  geographical  instruction.  I  would  have 
scrap  books  filled  with  pictures  of  places  and  people,  and 
newspaper  items  of  important  information  about  different 
lands.  I  would  have  boxes  of  photographs  and  stereo- 
scopic views  of  as  many  cities,  noted  places,  etc.,  as  I  could 
gather.  I  would  teach  by  map  drawing ;  by  comparing  one 
country  with  another,  the  past  with  the  present,  etc.,  never 
omitting  to  find  and  give  the  reason  for  the  barrenness,  fer- 
tility, heat,  cold,  productions  and  general  expression  of  any 


38  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

place  mentioned  or  referred  to  in  each  lesson  of  each  class. 
I  would  once  in  a  while  substitute  a  '  talk '  about  the  civ- 
ilized countries  of  this  century  for  some  other  lesson. 
Another  time  it  might  be  the  discoveries  ;  and  again  —  if 
the  pupils  were  old  enough  to  take  it  in  —  the  governments. 
In  this  way  they  may  not  learn  the  name  of  every  unimpor- 
tant city,  town  and  village  of  every  European  or  Asiatic 
state,  and  they  may  not  be  able  to  pronounce  every  difficult 
Russian  name  ;  but  they  will  be  able  to  give  a  reason  for 
the  difference  in  character,  civilization  and  progress  when 
there  is  a  difference  in  the  natural  conditions.  They  may 
not  learn  to  '  bound '  every  State  in  our  own  country  to  a 
nicety,  but  they  will  be  able  without  any  trouble  to  tell  why 
the  Eastern  States  were  settled  first ;  why  the  climate  varies 
in  different  sections  and  how  it  affects  the  inhabitants  ;  and 
they  will  have  had  time  to  learn  how  to  care  for  their  own 
bodies,  as  well  as  brains,  which  is  more  than  they  do  now ; 
at  least  I  suppose  the  universal  plea  '  want  of  time '  is  the 
only  reason  we,  as  teachers,  do  not  more  frequently  give 
practical  lessons  in  diet,  dress,  bathing,  exercise,  etc.,  to  our 
pupils.  While  they  are  young  tlfere  is  too  much  geography 
to  leave  time  for  such  specific  instruction,  and  as  they 
become  older  it  is  a  smattering  of  a  dozen  different  sciences 
that  prevents  the  same  thing  ;  and  as  a  consequence  we 
send  out  '  the  halt,  the  maimed  and  the  blind '  with  a  mem- 
ory crammed  with  dates  and  facts  concerning  things  of  no 
practical  value  in  their  after  every-day  life,  and  a  blissful 
(wicked)  ignorance  of  the  laws  that  govern  their  own 
being." 

What   enthusiasm   followed !     Honestly,  I  don't  believe 
that  one  of  us  had  ever  once  thought  we  were  wasting  time 


TIME    WASTED. 


39 


that  did  not  belong  to  us  by  compelling  the  memorizing  of 
whole  pages  of  book  after  book  —  for  as  Miss  Preston  says 
"  There  are  from  three  to  six  books  in  each  series,  and  the 
young  child  is  given  the  first  book — learns  it; — then  gets 
another  containing  the  same  thing  elaborated  —  learns  it; 
then  gets  another  and  so  continues  term  after  term." 

Well,  I  ask  you,  in  all  sincerity,  and  earnestly  hope  for  a 
satisfactory  answer :  what  is  the  use  of  all  this  minutiae  ? 
Would  fewer  details  and  more  general  information  be  bet- 
ter? Would  parents  appreciate  the  difference  in  expense, 
and  "take  stock"  in  the  utility  of  substituting  home  train- 
ing for  half  the  usual  amount  of  time  devoted  to  geography 
—  or  would  they  feel  that  Johnnie  was  being  neglected  by 
his  teacher  if  he  came  home  some  night,  eager  to  impart  his 
newly  acquired  information  that  "  I  must  not  take  my  coat 
off  after  running  or  getting  real  warm,  for  my  pores  are  all 
open  then,  and  I  would  take  cold" — even  if  he  had  not 
learned  how  many  square  miles  there  are  in  England  —  or 
some  other  place  (  without  any  definite  idea  of  what  a  square 
mile  is)  or  the  height  of  some  distant  mountain,  or  the 
length  of  some  unnavigable  river  ? 
Yours  Truly, 

Miss  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 


40  PRESTON  PAPERS. 


No.  VIII. 

TEACHERS'  EXAMINATIONS. 

OLDTOWN,  N.  Y.,  Nov.  15,  188-. 
MR. ,  State  Supt.  etc. 

My  Dear  Sir :  —  In  these  days  we  are  looking  forward  to 
our  teachers'  meetings  with  feelings  entirely  different  from 
those  we  used  to  experience.  We  are  now  sure  of  learning 
something  that  will  be  a  help  in  our  daily  work,  and  no  more 
time  is  wasted  on  dull  statistics,  nor  on  flights  of  rhetoric 
as  useless  as  they  are  brilliant.  I  will  tell  you  how  another 
wonder  has  been  accomplished  by  Miss  Preston.  I  refer  to 
the  change  effected  in  our  annual  examinations  —  teachers' 
examinations,  I  mean. 

It  is  not  within  the  memory  of  the  deponent  when  it  hath 
not  been  the  custom  to  "  toot  the  horn  " —  that  is,  to  give 
notice  per  daily  paper  —  for  the  assembling  of  the  teachers 
in  the  Town  Hall  for  examination.  Mr.  Johnson  is  the 
conductor,  and  the  members  of  the  "  Board  "  sit  apart  on 
the  stage,  grand  and  silent  witnesses  of  the  erudition  of  our 
learned  Superintendent.  To  them  he  is  the  very  embod- 
iment of  knowledge,  and  I  verily  believe  that  at  times  he 
himself  wonders  —  not  that  he  knows  so  little,  but  how  "  one 
head  can  contain  it  all !  " 

Miss  Preston  came  once  last  year,  but  "  fired  up  "  when 
Mr.  Johnson  handed  her  papers  back  to  her  marked  "  99^," 
and  asked  very  calmly : 


DEFECTS  OF   THE   OLD    WAY.  41 

**  How  often  is  this  required  of  us?  " 

"  Only  once  a  year,"  he  replied. 

"  And  what  is  its  object  ?  "  she  pursued. 

"Why  —  why — it  is  a  provision  of  the  Board,  for  the 
purpose  of  seeing  that  all  who  have  been  appointed  are 
qualified  for  their  positions." 

"But  how  does  this  show  whether  they  are  or  are  not 
qualified  ?  " 

"  Why,  all  who  fall  below  the  average  standard  of  75  per 
cent  are  dismissed,  and  those  who  reach  it  are  retained." 

"  Who  prepares  the  questions  ?  " 

"  /  do,"  said  he  testily,  yet  pompously ;  "  are  they  not  all 
right  ?  " 

"  O,  yes,  certainly.  They  seem  admirably  adapted  for  the 
puzzle  column  of  a  variety  newspaper,  or  as  a  basis  for  the 
game  of  Twenty  Questions.' " 

"  What  do  you  mean,  Miss  Preston  ?  Please  explain  your 
criticism." 

"  Simply  this,  then.  The  questions  are  not  practical,  are 
irrelevant  and,  as  a  rule,  have  no  bearing  on  our  daily  work, 
either  in  theory  or  practice ;  and  hence  they  cannot  be  a 
criterion  by  which  to  judge  of  personal  qualification ;  and 
by  adopting  it  you  not  only  lose  some  good  teachers,  but 
must  also  retain  some  that  are  good  for  nothing  but  to 
repeat  dates,  facts  and  figures  in  a  machine-like  way,  as  a 
phonograph  or  a  well  drilled  parrot  may  do." 

"  For  instance  ?  " 

"  Well,  for  instance :  you  ask  us  to  name  the  sovereigns  of 
England  chronologically.  Good.  This  we  should  be  able 
to  do ,  but  suppose  that  in  the  rush  of  earnest  strife  to  learn 
the  best  methods  of  meeting  the  wants  of  our  classes,  that 


42  PRESTON   PAPERS. 

item  of  history  has  been  buried  under  the  accumulation  of 
things  more  important.  Will  its  loss  prevent  us  from 
explaining  the  use  of  capital  letters  and  the  decimal  point, 
or  will  its  possession  be  of  any  use  in  seeing  that  our  school- 
room  is  properly  heated  and  ventilated  ? 

Again ;  you  call  our  attention  to  historical  characters 
whose  ashes  long  since  helped  fertilize  the  earth  and  vitiate 
the  air,  but  you  ignore  the  great  topics  of  our  own  time  and 
our  own  Government  You  call  for  Latin  declensions,  and 
do  not  ask  by  what  methods  we  are  seeking  to  teach  the 
Queen's  English  to  those  who  must  use  it  hundreds  of  times 
where  they  will  use  Latin  once.  You  do  not  ask  how,  as 
individuals,  we  teach  one  topic,  nor  by  what  means  we  pro- 
mote the  personal  interests  of  our  pupils. 

What  difference  will  it  make  to  our  Board  of  Education 
though  I  can  solve  every  problem  in  Euclid,  and  yet  have 
no  solution  of  the  greater  one :  '  How  can  I  best  govern 
that  headstrong  boy  of  twelve,  or  that  impertinent  miss  of 
fourteen  ? '  Would  not  a  more  complete  demonstration  of 
my  fitness  for  my  special  position  be  shown  if  I  am  called 
upon  to  specify  the  needs  of  my  own  school,  and  asked  to 
prove  that  I  could  adapt  myself  to  their  supply,  rather  than 
by  a  mechanical  repetition  of  Kepler's  Three  Laws,  or  by  a 
familiar  acquaintance  with  the  most  abstruse  topic  in  men- 
tal philosophy?  We  are  dealing  with  boys  and  girls,  the 
every  day  material  whose  product  is  men  and  women.  The 
minds  we  seek  to  educate,  to  guide,  are  immature,  unformed 
—  not  to  be  treated  like  that  of  a  profound  scientist  or  well 
drilled  philosopher." 

"Possibly  you  can  suggest  a  better  plan.  Let  me  hear 
you." 


THE  BEST  METHOD. 


43 


"  In  the  first  place,  then,  a  conscientious  teacher  needs  no 
such  stimulus  to  keep  pace  with  the  times.  Her  school, 
with  its  great  and  varied  needs,  will  be  uppermost  in  her 
thoughts,  and  her  powers  will  be  concentrated  in  the  con- 
stant effort  to  do  her  entire  duty  by  it.  All  other  occupa- 
tions, aims  and  ambitions  will  be  of  secondary  importance 
and  made  subservient  to  it. 

Second,  a  visit  to  the  school  is  the  best  examination  patron, 
trustee,  or  superintendent  can  give  a  teacher.  There  the 
work  will  speak  for  itself,  and  by  that  alone  should  a  teacher 
be  commended  or  condemned.  And  again;  if  there  must  be 
examinations,  let  them  be  confined  almost  exclusively  to  the 
work  before  us." 

"Why,  that  would  involve  an  examination  of  teachers 
from  each  grade  separately." 

M  Certainly ;  why  not  ?  Professor  Lowell  is  teaching 
mathematics  only,  and  that  to  young  men  and  women  of 
mature  minds.  His  examination  should  be  far  different 
from  that  of  my  assistant  here,  who  is  dealing  with  child- 
hood and  elementary  studies.  Radicals,  Cube  Root  and 
the  Metric  System  have  positively  no  business  in  her  depart- 
ment ;  so  why  not  let  her  devote  all  her  time  and  energy  to 
bringing  her  own  work  to  perfection  ?  If  we  want  the  latest 
publications  we  do  not  look  for  them  in  a  hardware  store, 
nor  do  we  visit  a  lawyer's  office  to'  see  the  newest  fashion 
plates.  We  are  more  consistent  in  nearly  everything  per- 
taining to  our  every  day  life  than  in  that  which  concerns 
our  schools  and  teachers." 

She  is  too  much  for  him  every  time,  and  I  guess  she's 
right  generally,  although  at  first  I  had  my  doubts.  But  our 
"  civil  service  reform  "  has  begun  in  earnest,  and  now  we 


44  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

are  having  better  evidence  of  the  eternal  fitness  of  each 
teacher  for  his  or  her  special  department.  No  senseless 
cramming,  in  view  of  the  much  dreaded  examination  on 
topics  entirely  foreign  to  our  work,  but  study  —  healthy 
study  —  to  adapt  the  means  at  hand  to  the  end  in  view,  and 
more  thoughtful,  earnest  work  among  us  all. 

Perfection  is  not  yet  attained.  There  is  still  too  much 
machine  work,  putting  the  pupils  at  the  upper  end  of  an 
inclined  plane,  giving  a  push  and  setting  them  going ;  but, 
Mr.  Superintendent,  we  are  trying,  we  do  care  and  are  hop- 
ing for  good  results  from  our  united  efforts. 

More  anon  from 

Yours  Very  Truly, 

Miss  PILESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 


REASONS  FOR.  45 


No.  IX. 

PRIZE  GIVING. 

OLDTOWN,  N.  Y.,  Dec.  20,  i8^J-. 
MR. ,  Supt.,  etc. 

My  Dear  Sir :  —  We  had  long  ago  decided  to  give  up  our 
November  meeting  to  the  discussion  of  prize  giving,  and 
we  did  so  to  our  mutual  profit.  Mr  Johnson  occupied  the 
chair,  and  we  each  spoke  as  the  spirit  moved  us.  Miss  Wells 
threw  down  the  gauntlet  by  rising  and  saying  with  a  flash : 

"  I  believe  in  giving  prizes,  because  it  stimulates  the  chil- 
dren to  do  their  very  best,  and  renders  urging  unnecessary. 
Then,  too,  it  gives  the  school  something  to  work  for." 

"  I  am  not  so  sure,"  said  Miss  Preston,  "  that  the  reasons 
you  urge  in  its  favor  are  not  the  very  ones  why  it  is  injuri- 
ous. It  does  stimulate  the  children,  surely;  that  is,  a  certain 
portion  of  them;  others  it  discourages,  perhaps  the  very 
opes,  too,  who  need  the  most  encouragement  but  who  are 
disheartened  from  the  outset  by  the  idea  that  a  prize  is  to 
be  given ;  only  one  or  two  can  get  it,  and  there  are  dozens 
in  school  who  are  more  likely  than  themselves  to  merit  it, 
and  therefore  there  is  no  use  in  their  trying.  And  by  calling 
it  'giving  the  school  something  to  work  for,'  we  dress  in  very 
pretty  words  a  painful  fact ;  for,  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten, 
the  prize  itself  becomes  the  object  for  which  they  strive, 
forgetful  of  better  purposes." 


46  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

Mr.  Lowell  arose  as  Miss  Preston  resumed  her  seat,  and 
said : 

"I  am  surprised.  I  supposed  Miss  Preston  was  a  firm 
believer  in-  the  doctrine  of  rewards  and  punishments.  I 
have  heard  her  argue  something  fully  as  orthodox  in  princi- 
ple as  prize  giving.  I  adhere  to  it,  because  it  is  less  trouble 
than  to  manage  any  other  way.  I  offer  the  prize,  on  such 
and  such  conditions,  and  have  no  further  responsibility  as 
to  who  wins  or  loses.  It  is  their  own  lookout." 

"Yes,"  said  Miss  Preston  indignantly;  "we  are  always 
ready  to  shirk  bur  responsibilities,  even  in  so  comparatively 
small  matters  as  this.  But  can  we?  Will  we  not  be  held 
responsible,  in  a  measure  at  least,  for  the  feelings  of  envy, 
discontent,  and  discord  that  are  fostered  and  cultivated  by 
our  action  in  this  ?  I  do  believe  in  judicious  rewards  and 
punishments,  but  not  in  indiscriminate  ones.  I  would  not 
hold  out  to  a  school  as  an  inducement  to  do  well  any  thing 
that  could  not  be  shared  by  all." 

Mr.  Johnson  began  to  look  interested.  "  How  then  would 
you  manage?  You  could  not  very  well  give  prizes  to  all. 
Your  salary  would  be  insufficient." 

Miss  Preston  laughed.  "  I  am  not  afraid  of  going  to  the 
poor-house,  because  of  the  little  I  might  spend  in  giving 
my  school  a  simple  pleasure;  and  ways  enough  will  suggest 
themselves  to  every  teacher  whose  heart  is  in  the  work." 

"Please  be  specific,  Miss  Preston,"  said  Miss  Wood,  "for 
I  have  been  in  the  habit  of  giving  prizes  every  year,  and 
have  become  somewhat  dissatisfied  with  the  general  results. 
If  there  is  any  better  way  I  want  it." 

"Any  way  seems  'better'  to  me  than  one  which  draws 
comparisons,  however  indirectly,  as  this  method  does.  It  has 


HOW  PRIZES  ARE  WON.  47 

the  effect  of  making  the  successful  (if  I  may  use  that  adjec- 
tive in  this  connection)  child  vain  of  its  own  attainments,  by 
being  the  recipient  not  only  of  the  prize  but  of  the  remarks 
and  notice  which  follow  —  and  as  a  rule  a  prize  winner 
becomes  self-satisfied  and  self-sufficient  to  such  a  degree 
as  almost  to  preclude  better  influences,  even  sometimes 
causing  a  cessation  from  further  effort ;  and  the  others  are 
needlessly  made  jealous  of  the  successful  child  or  painfully 
morbid  concerning  their  own  stupidity,  when  in  fact  they 
may  not  be  nearly  as  dull  as  the  one  who  received  the  prize; 
or  when,  as  happens  in  many  instances,  those  who  do  not  get 
the  reward  only  lose  it  because  they  are  more  conscientious. 
For  instance :  I  offer  a  prize  to  my  arithmetic  class,  to  be 
given  to  the  one  who  has  the  most  perfect  lessons.  Fanny 
is  glib,  and  has  a  memory  which  assists  in  perfect  recita- 
tions, together  with  an  easy  conscience  which  permits  her 
to  answer  '  Perfect '  at  roll  call  if  she  has  not  missed  any 
question,  although  she  knew  that  she  would  miss  if  certain 
other  questions  had  been  asked.  George,  in  the  same  class 
is  somewhat  slow  of  speech,  perhaps  slow  to  understand, 
but  industrious  and  faithful.  Then  too,  *  perfect '  has  a 
fullness  of  meaning  for  him  that  has  never  entered  into  the 
heart  of  Fanny ;  and,  although  he  has  spent  more  real 
work  on  the  lesson  than  she,  he  is  too  conscientious  to  say 
'  Perfect '  even  if  he  has  answered  every  question  that  was 
given  him.  He  is  not  content,  with  his  superficial  knowl- 
edge of  the  lesson,  to  call  it  perfect,  even  for  the  sake  of  the 
prize  which  he  must  see  pass  into  the  hands  of  one  whom  he 
knows  is  no  more  deserving  than  himself." 

"  You  do  not  think,  then,  that  a  teacher  will  gain  the  love 
of  his  pupils  in  this  way  ?  "  queried  Mr.  Johnson. 


48  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

"Certainly  not.  Do  you  necessarily  love  the  one  who 
pays  what  is  justly  your  due  ?  By  no  means.  If  you  make 
a  coat  or  boots,  a  chair  or  machine  for  a  person,  you  earn 
your  pay  j  but  it  does  not  follow  that  you  have  any  affection 
for  the  one  who  offers  so  much  for  so  much.  So  children 
who  get  prizes  receive  them  as  their  honest  due,  if  hon- 
estly gained;  and  the  giver  has  little  or  no  place  in  their 
consideration. 

Besides,  I  do  not  think  it  wise  to  inculcate  a  belief  that 
a  child  should  be  paid  for  doing  his  best.  It  lowers  the 
standard  of  'Right  for  right's  sake,'  and  gives  the  impression 
that  right  is  the  exception,  wrong  the  rule." 

"  And  what  would  you  offer  in  place  of  prize  giving  ?  " 

"  Free  communion  and  association  between  teachers  and 
pupils.  I  would  gain  their  love  and  sympathy  by  entering 
into  their  duties  and  pastimes  outside  of  school.  I  would 
show  myself  their  friend,  by  my  interest  in  their  individual 
selves,  not  only  at  school  during  study  hours  and  in  their 
classes ;  but  on  the  play-ground,  at  recess,  at  home,  on  the 
street,  everywhere." 

Much  more  was  said,  pro  and  con,  but  I  shall  leave  it  to 
report  some  other  time,  for  I  want  to  tell  you  how  Miss 
Preston  manages,  as  she  is  too  modest  to  even  speak  of  her 
own  peculiar  methods,  even  in  our  Association.  She  doesn't 
give  prizes,  but  she  does  give  pleasure ;  pleasures  that  fall 
"alike  upon  the  just  and  unjust"  and  forever  prevent  any 
criticism  for  showing  partiality.  The  only  distinction  she 
ever  makes  is  to  give  special  attention  to  the  poor,  the 
repulsive,  the  most  disagreeable  ones  —  those  who  are  the 
most  friendless,  by  reason  of  their  condition  or  conduct. 
But  how  ?  Well,  for  instance,  last  year  there  was  an  unusual 


CHRISTMAS  PLANS. 


49 


number  of  poor  children  in  our  ward,  which  is  largely  settled 
by  a  foreign  population  —  many  of  them  day  laborers;  and 
some  of  them  even  worse  than  that,  having  no  steady  em- 
ployment, and  some  miserable  drunkards.  As  the  holidays 
approached  and  we  were  all  busy  talking  over  our  plans  for 
Christmas,  Miss  Preston  said  to  me  one  day :  "  I  would  like 
to  do  something  for  my  school  for  Christmas.  Many  of 
them  will  not  have  a  thing  to  make  the  day  memorable;  and 
some  of  them  I'm  afraid  will  suffer  from  cold  and  hunger." 

"What  is  your  plan?  I'd  like  to  help"  —  for  by  that 
time  I  had  begun  to  appreciate  her  and  to  care  more  for 
my  classes. 

"Come  home  with  me  to-night,"  said  she,  "and  we  will 
talk  it  over."  I  did.  On  the  way  she  stopped  at  a  confec- 
tioner's and  ordered  twenty-five  pounds  of  candy,  assorted, 
pure,  and  of  the  best  quality.  Next  she  bought  a  large 
basket  of  corn  to  pop  and  she  engaged  a  big  boy  whom  she 
saw  on  one  of  the  street  corners  to  do  the  work  for  her. 
After  tea,  I  helped  her  put  the  candy  into  white  paper  cor- 
nucopias, which  we  rolled  up;  seventy-five  of  them,  one  for 
each  child. 

The  day  that  school  was  to  close  for  our  week's  vacation, 
she  asked  the  children  if  they  knew  what  anniversary  would 
be.  celebrated  the  following  Sunday,  and  after  a  little  talk 
she  read  a  Christmas  poem  to  them,  and  I  read  a  Christmas 
story.  A  knock  at  the  door  was  answered  by  her,  and  old 
Santa  Claus  himself. came  in,  bearing  a  huge  basket  on  each 
arm.  He  was  invited  to  a  place  on  the  stage,  from  whence 
he  informed  the  wondering  children  that  he  visited  them  by 
request  of  their  teachers,  etc.,  etc. 

I  can  not  picture  the  enthusiasm  that  prevailed;  nor  can 


50  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

any  one  say  where  the  influence  of  her  happy  thought  will 
end,  for,  as  each  boy  and  girl  received  a  package  of  candy 
and  a  dish  of  pop  corn,  there  was  no  jealousy,  no  bitter 
feelings  of  strife  or  envy  —  nothing  but  pure  love,  such  as  is 
felt  by  the  Christ  whose  birth  is  celebrated  each  returning 
year.  I  do  not  know  which  was  the  happier,  teacher  or 
pupils.  I  only  know  that  she  makes  the  most  of  her  oppor- 
tunities to  do  them  good.  She  goes  on  little  fishing,  nutting, 
and  flower-hunting  excursions  with  them,  and  each  of  these 
she  makes  an  occasion  for  instruction  of  some  sort ;  and  I 
know  that  many  a  boy  is  indebted  to  her  for  his  real  polite- 
ness of  manner,  and  many  a  girl  owes  to  her  her  pleasant 
recognition  of  the  small  courtesies  of  life.  Two  or  three 
weeks  since,  when  we  had  our  first  fall  of  snow,  she  hired 
horses,  drivers,  and  long  sleighs  enough  to  take  her  entire 
school,  including  myself  and  classes,  for  an  afternoon's  ride. 

Do  these  things  pay  ?  Yes,  she  is  paid  every  day,  by  the 
progress  of  her  school  —  by  their  devotion  to  her,  and  by 
their  higher  moral  standard ;  for  her  character  has  not  been 
without  its  effect  on  their  moral  perceptions. 

There  is  much  more  of  which  I  would  like  to  tell  you,  but 
have  not  time.  One  thought,  however,  comes  to  me  more  and 
more  frequently,  Why  are  not  more  teachers  like  her?  Why 
am  /  not  ?  ( Rather  why  was  I  not,  for  by  association  with 
her  so  long  I  am  taking  on  some  of  her  methods,  although 
I  can  never  hope  to  attain  to  her  hight. )  Why  did  I  never 
think  of  these  things  before  ?  Why  were  not  my  own  teach- 
ers of  this  sort  ?  Is  she  a  rara  avis  ?  If  so,  why  1 
Yours  Truly, 

Miss  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 


PESTALOZZTS  LAWS.  51 


No,  X. 

NUMBER. 

OLDTOWN,  N.  Y.,  January  16,  188-. 
MR. ,  State  Supt.  Public  Instruction. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  —  I  am  glad  that  some  one  wants  to  know 
how  Primary  Arithmetic  should  be  taught,  as -that  is  just 
what  interested  us  at  our  Teachers'  Meeting  in  December. 
We  are  actually  learning  how  to  teach. 

I  will  not  give  all  the  old  stereotyped  "  methods  "  ad- 
vanced by  some  of  our  number,  as  all  gave  way  before  Miss 
Preston's  better  ones.  Mr.  Johnson  had  seen  one  of  the 
trustees  where  she  taught  several  years  ago,  and  had  been 
told  by  him  that  she  was  the  most  successful  teacher  of  pri- 
mary studies  they  had  ever  known ;  and  this  gave  Mr.  John- 
son an  excuse  for  calling  her  out.  He  is  really  waking  up 
to  her  great  value,  and  seems  to  depend  upon  her  sugges- 
tions. His  questions  elicited  something  like  the  following  : 

"  Our  first  object  should  be  to  get  down  to  the  child.  It  is 
a  long  step  from  their  plane  of  vision  to  ours,  and  we  should 
so  express  ourselves  as  to  be  at  once  understood  by  the  lit- 
tle ones.  Then  we  will  follow  Pestalozzi's  laws  '  From  the 
concrete  to  the  abstract ;  from  the  known  to  the  unknown ; 
from  the  simple  to  the  compound,'  and  we  shall  have  no 
trouble  in  teaching  Primary  Arithmetic,  nor  anything  else.' 


5  2  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

A  chorus  of  voices  clamored  for  illustrations,  and  after 
some  hesitation  she  continued : 

"  Of  course  the  first  thing  to  be  done  is  to  teach  them  to 
count.  This  should  be  done  concretely — never  abstractly 
at  first.  We  may  begin  asking  how  many  hands  each  one 
has ;  how  many  feet,  eys,  ears,  noses,  tongues,  fingers, 
thumbs,  etc.  Then  lines  may  be  drawn  upon  the  board, 
and  they  may  count  them  as  the  teacher  points  to  them, 
never  allowing  them  to  count  more  than  the  lines  shown, 
nor  faster  than  pointed  out.  This  will  give  them  instinc- 
tively, an  idea  of  the  relative  -worth  of  numbers  —  a  very 
important  item.  Afterwards  they  may  be  allowed  to  count 
abstractly,  and  then  drilled  on  the  relative  value  of  numbers 
by  the  teacher  writing  8,  4,  3,  etc.  on  the  board  ;  each  time 
that  two  numbers  are  put  thereon,  asking  them  to  tell  which 
is  of  the  greater  value,  and  which  the  lesser.  After  a  short 
time,  they  may  call  out  when  the  teacher  pronounces  two 
numbers  as,  12,  7.  These  exercises  should  always  go  back- 
ward also.  For  instance,  when  they  have  learned  by  the 
use  of  apples,  pencils,  fingers,  beans,  or  stones  to  count 
four,  they  should  be  taught  in  the  same  way,  by  use  of  the 
same  means,  to  count  from  four  to  one.  Be  very  sure  not 
to  count  from  one  to  ten  with  apples,  and  then  from  ten 
backwards  with  something  else.  Use  the  same  thing  for 
each  process,  to  prevent  any  confusion  in  the  children's  mind. 
After  they  have  learned  to  count  any  number,  and  can  dis- 
tinguish the  figure  or  figures  that  represent  it,  they  may  be 
taught  to  write  the  number  themselves.  For  instance,  I 
hold  up  three  crayons ;  '  How  many  crayons  have  I  ? ' 
'  Three  crayons.'  ( Always  insist  on  a  complete  answer.  If 
they  say  '  Three,'  in  response  to  your  question,  you  may  ask 


TEACHING  ADDITION,  ETC.  53 

'  Three  what  ?  Three  cents  ? '  and  after  a  few  illustrations 
of  this  kind  they  will  get  into  the  way  of  complete  replies.) 
'  Very  well,  I  will  make  the  number  on  the  blackboard  and 
you  may  make  it  on  your  slates,  You  may  each  make  three 
33,  and  John  may  go  to  the  board  and  make  his.  Next 
time  some  one  else  may  go.'  How  eager  they  will  be,  and 
how  deeply  interested !  Dry  and  dull  ?  Tired  ?  Don't  like 
to  go  to  school  ?  Hate  numbers  ?  No  ;  these  things  you 
need  never  hear.  Having  learned  to  count,  to  read  and 
write  small  numbers  readily,  I  would  teach  addition,  sub- 
traction, multiplication  and  division  of  those  numbers  to- 
gether." 

*'  Why,  Miss  Preston !  What  a  dreadful  dose  that  would 
be,"  said  Mr.  Johnson. 

"  Not  at  all !  "  she  replied  with  a  smile.  "  I  would  not 
give  a  child  a  book  with  the  '  table  '  of  8s,  for  instance,  and 
compel  him  to  learn  '  i  and  8  is  9;  2  and  8  is  10;  3  from  8 
leaves  5  ;  6  times  8  is  48 ;  2  is  contained  in  8  4  times.' 
That  would  be  a  dose.  So  is  any  '  table '  of  abstract  figures. 
All  a  child's  early  instruction  should  come  through  some 
bodily  sense  ;  hence,  I  would  take  the  seeds,  apples,  stones 
or  what  not  that  we  had  been  using,  and  select  eight  as  they 
counted  them.  '  Now  let  us  see  what  we  can  do  with  these 
eight  apples.'  Let  them  count,  say  two  more  from  the  gen- 
eral pile,  and  put  them  with  the  eight  already  counted. 
'  Now  you  may  count  them  all.'  This  done,  they  have 
found  for  themselves  the  truth  that  '8  and  2  is  10.'  It  is  a 
grand  thing  for  them.  Their  eyes  sparkle,  and  they  are 
hungry  for  more.  You  may  put  the  fact  into  form  for  them 
on  the  board,  while  they  copy  the  same  on  their  slates. 
Now,  removing  the  surplus,  two  apples  from  the  eight* 


54  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

we  will  see  what  counting  backwards  from  eight  will  do  for 
us.  '  Here  we  have  the  same  eight  apples.  As  you  count  I 
will  take  away  two.  We  call  this  subtraction,  because  it 
means  taking  away.  How  many  apples  have  we  left  ? ' 
Write  on  the  board  in  the  same  manner  as  before  and  kt 
the  little  ones  follow  on  their  slates,  inspecting  their  work, 
giving  hints  as  to  size  and  shape  of  figures,  use  of  signs, 
general  appearance,  neatness,  etc.  They  have  now  learned 
that '  2  from  8  leaves  six,'  therefore  '  2  and  6  must  be  8  ;  and 
only  half  the  time  has  been  used  that  would  have  been  in 
the  old  way.  Go  right  on  with  the  same  general  form  for 
multiplication  and  division,  using  two  and  eight  as  the  num- 
bers with  which  to  work.  One  caution  may  be  necessary 
right  here  :  you  may  become  so  interested  and  enthusiastic 
yourself  as  to  forget  the  wonderful  smallness  of  the  minds 
with  which  you  are  dealing,  and  give  them  too  much  at  a 
time.  Be  very  careful  about  this.  Do  not  sacrifice  quality 
to  quantity.  Let  the  lessons  be  short  and  frequent,  and  the 
progress  will  be  rapid  and  satisfactory." 

Verily,  she  was  that  moment  a  living  exposition  of  her 
own  words,  for  she  sat  down  tired  out,  and  each  of  her  lis- 
teners had  that  tense,  strained  look  of  overwrought  minds ! 
It  was  like  a  new  revelation  to  us !  Teach  in  that  way,  with 
our  whole  soul  and  strength  and  mind  and  might?  Teach 
without  books,  without  the  old  ease  of  announcing  a  lesson, 
hearing  it  "  recited,"  and  then  dismissing  it  without  a  fur- 
ther thought  ?  Why,  the  perfect  mastery  of  that  one  sub- 
ject and  the  method  of  presenting  it  to  the  juvenile  mind 
must  have  involved  hours  of  patient  study,  such  as  we  had 
never  dreamed  of  giving  to  anything  so  commonplace ! 
We  did  not  wonder  that  she  grew  thin  over  her  work,  for 


PROMOTION. 


55 


she  put  her  very  life  into  it.     Nor  did  we  wonder  again  that 
she  was  always  spoken  of  as  a  "  grand  success !  "  nor  that 
she  commands  a  salary  and  is  constantly  promoted,  while 
others  are  left  to  drone,  dream  and  drudge  over  their  work. 
We  have  so  many  topics  on  hand  for  discussion  that  we 
contemplate  semi-monthly  meetings.     But,  I  must  close,  for 
I  want  to  read  my  new  "Educational   Report,"  so  kindly 
sent  by  you,  and  see  what  I  can  there  find  for  my  school. 
Yours  Truly, 

Miss  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 


56  PRESTON  PAPERS. 


No.  XI. 

PRIMARY  ARITHMETIC. 

OLDTOWN,  N.  Y.,  Feb.  22,  188-. 
MR.  SUPERINTENDENT  : 

Since  tne  subject  01  Arithmetic  has  been  proposed  for 
elucidation,  and  I  have  already  given  you  a  general  idea  of 
how  Miss  Preston  starts  the  little  ones  up  this  "  Hill  Diffi- 
culty," it  may  be  well  for  me  to  go  on  and  tell  you  how  the 
light  from  her  lamp  shone  on  my  path  and  helped  me  over 
an  otherwise  trying  place.  It  was  when  I  first  knew  her, 
and  before  I  had  gained  any  confidence  in  her  methods  of 
teaching.  I  had  taught  so  long,  and  in  the  old,  stereotyped 
way,  that  I  did  my  work  mechanically  and  frowned  upon 
innovations  as  upon  a  personal  infringement.  She  came  to 
the  door  of  the  recitation  room  one  afternoon  to  invite  me 
to  take  a  walk.  She's  a  rare  pedestrian  and  makes  it  a  daily 
exercise,  generally  walking  several  miles.  I  am  getting  in 
the  way  of  it  myself  now,  although  at  that  time  I  had  not 
realized  its  wonderful  benefits  as  I  have  since.  That  day  I 
was  tired  and  cross,  and  had  kept  a  little  boy  from  one  of 
the  beginning  classes  after  school,  because  he  had  failed  to 
get  his  examples;  and  to  his  assurances  that  he  did  not 
understand  them,  I  only  vouchsafed  the  calm  suggestion 
that  he  "must  be  very  dull." 

I  would  not  "  offend  one  of  these  little  ones  "  by  such  ar 


ILLUSTRA  TIONS. 


57 


answer  to  their  appeal  for  help  to-day,  but  I  was  completely 
oblivious  then  to  everything  except  the  sense  of  drudgery 
which  my  work  imposed  upon  me.  I  did  not  offer  him  any 
assistance,  but  cut  the  leaves  of  "  A  Reverend  Idol "  and 
coldly  read  while  he  pored  over  his  book. 

After  waiting  a  few  moments  Miss  Preston  asked  if  she 
might  speak  with  Henry,  and  I  gave  her  an  ungracious 
"  Certainly."  She  ignored  my  manner,  and  sitting  down  at 
Henry's  desk,  talked  with  him  something  like  the  following  • 

Miss  Preston.     Are  your  examples  very  hard  to-day  ? 

Henry.  They  are  not  -very  hard,  I  guess,  for  the  other 
boys  all  had  them. 

Miss  P.     Do  you  understand  them  ? 

H.  No,  ma'am ;  not  when  I  have  to  take  8  from  3.  I  can 
do  the  other  kind  well  enough,  taking  3  from  8,  and  such, 
but  I  don't  see  how  I  can  take  8  from  3. 

'Miss  P.  Ah,  yes.  I  see  your  trouble.  Now  please  hand 
me  that  tin  cup  by  the  water  pail.  I  thank  you.  I  want  a 
drink  from  it,  but  I  see  that  it  is  empty.  What  shall  I  do  ? 
I  am  very  thirsty;  but  I  cannot  drink  from  an  empty  cup 
nor  from  one  that  has  only  three  drops  in  it,  for  I  need  much 
more  to  quench  my  thirst. 

H.  (With  animation.)  Why,  I  can  get  some  for  you 
from  the  pail. 

Miss  P.    But  suppose  the  pail  is  empty  ? 

H.    Why  then  I  would  go  to  the  faucet  down  in  the  base 
ment,  and  get  a  pailful. 

Miss  P.  That  wouldn't  do  any  good.  I  only  want  a 
cupful. 

H.  Well,  I  can  bring  you  a  cupful  from  the  pail,  when  it 
is  full ! 


58  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

Miss  P.  Just  so.  Now  let  us  see  if  we  can  not  do  the 
same  in  your  example.  You  can't  take  8  from  3 ;  but  per- 
haps we  can  go  to  the  pail  and  fill  our  cup.  Ah,  no.  Our 
next  figure  is  a  cipher.  Our  pail  is  empty.  What  shall  we 
do  ?  Go  to  the  faucet  of  course,  fill  our  pail  and  come  back. 
Beyond  our  cipher  stands  a  4  on  purpose  for  us  to  use. 
Now,  if  I  take  one  of  these  hundreds,  how  many  tens  is  it 
worth  ? 

Jl.    Why,  ten  tens. 

Miss  P.  Good.  Now  instead  of  the  cipher  we  have  10. 
We  can  fill  the  cup  from  the  pail.  So  now  we  will  take  one 
of  these  tens  ( equal  to  ten  units )  and  add  it  to  the  three 
units  we  already  have,  giving  us  13  units.  Now  can  you 
take  8  from  13  ? 

H.  Oh,  yes,  and  it  leaves  5.  Why  isn't  that  funny !  It's 
just  like  a  poor  man  without  money,  begging  from  some  one 
with  a  pocketful. 

Miss  P.  Just  so.  Now  you  have  3  to  take  from  9  where 
your  cipher  stood. 

H.    And  it  leaves  6  ! 

Miss  P.  Now  here  is  our  4,  with  a  2  below  it.  What 
will  you  do  ? 

H.    Why  (after  some  meditation),  4  gave  away  part  of  his. 

Miss  P.    Yes.     How  much  has  he  left  ? 

H.    Why,  3.     So  we  can  say  "  2  from  3." 

Miss  P.     Do  you  think  you  "  see  through  "  it  now  ? 

H.  (With  great  enthusiasm.)  Why, yes,  ma'am.  I  can't 
help  getting  my  examples  now. 

Which  was  true.  And  /  couldn't  help  catching  the  fire, 
nor  have  I  been  able  to  keep  out  of  it  since.  When  we 
came  to  fractions  she  showed  me  how  to  illustrate  the  value 


ENTHUSIASM  AND   ORDER. 


59 


of  numerator  and  denominator  by  things  visible,  apples, 
oranges,  etc.,  until  the  facts  were  so  plain  I  began  to  think 
I  had  never  before  half  comprehended  them  myself. 

So  with  compound  numbers.  Under  her  advice  I  bor- 
rowed a  set  of  gill,  pint,  quart,  and  gallon  cups  at  the  hard- 
ware store  and  let  the  children  learn  for  themselves  the 
relative  value  of  each  measure,  and  then  construct  their  own 
tables,  backward  as  well  as  forward.  For  instance:  we  first 
filled  the  gallon  measure  and  found  it  would  fill  the  quart 
cup  four  times,  so  "  i  gallon  makes  4  quarts;  4  quarts  make 
i  gallon." 

Actually,  I  borrowed  small  scales  after  that,  and  taught 
them  to  weigh,  using  sand,  which  Miss  Preston  calls  "  clean 
dirt." 

So  with  everything  —  long,  square,  and  cubic  measure  set 
them  all  to  buying  the  penny  tape  measures,  and  finding  the 
length,  hight,  and  width,  of  everything  in  and  around  the 
school  house  and  yard.  And  I  was  nearly  as  enthusiastic 
as  they,  and  by  practicing  became  expert  enough  to  esti- 
mate the  size  of  anything  with  a  degree  of  accuracy  hitherto 
unknown. 

Order  ?  No,  I  do  not  think  my  recitations  were  con- 
ducted with  as  good  order  ( in  the  common  acceptation  of 
the  word)  as  before  —  but  the  pupils  learned,  and  have  been 
learning  ever  since,  until  I  have  come  to  believe  that  the 
fairy  "Order"  has  been  grossly  misrepresented,  as  a  tyrant 
to  whom  it  was  necessary  to  sacrifice  everything  else.  The 
order  that  prevails  in  my  school  now  is  of  a  far  different 
(and  I  hope  better)  type  than  that  which  formerly  compelled 
my  pupils  to  sit  irt  a  stated  position,  and  if  called  upon  to 
recite  to  do  it  in  one  special  way  and  in  no  other. 


60  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

One  more  illustration  of  Miss  Preston's  genius  in  teaching 
arithmetic,  and  I  will  close.  One  of  the  teachers  came  to 
her  the  other  day  after  our  Association  meeting,  and  said : 

"  Miss  Preston,  you  spoke  of  having  the  children  count 
backward  as  well  as  forward.  Will  you  kindly  illustrate  ? " 

"  With  pleasure ;  "  and  turning  right  around  to  the  black- 
board she  drew  a  flight  of  stairs  in  outline,  placing  a  cipher 
on  the  lowest,  a  figure  i  on  the  next,  2  on  the  next,  and  so 
up  to  10.  All  in  less  time  than  it  takes  to  write  it,  she  had 
continued : 

"From  o  to  10  I  call  'going  up  stairs;'  from  10  to  o 
'going  down  stairs.'  It  is  a  favorite  illustration  because 
simple,  quick,  and  a  pleasing  conceit  for  the  children ;  and 
they  certainly  learn  to  add,  subtract,  multiply,  and  divide 
numbers  more  quickly  and  with  more  intelligence  by  means 
of  some  such  thing,  than  abstractly." 

As  they  progress,  she  takes  other  numbers ;  for  instance 
the  stairs  will  be  filled  with  2  and  its  multiples — or  3,  4,  5,  10, 
12,  according  to  the  previous  development.  The  orders  of 
units  she  illustrates  by  bundles  of  sticks,  similar  to  matches 
in  shape  and  size ;  ten  in  a  bundle  to  represent  units  ;  ten 
bundles  to  represent  tens,  etc.  She  has  "faculty;"  and 
no  matter  what  she  teaches,  she  does  so  from  the  child's 
standpoint. 

Oh,  I  want  to  tell  you  about  her  methods  in  teaching 
grammar,  but  cannot  now. 

Yours  Truly, 

Miss  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 


DREAD  OF   THE   WORD.  6 1 


No.  XI L 
COMPOSITIONS. 

OLDTOWN,  N.  Y.,  March  16,  188-. 
STATE  SUPERINTENDENT  : 

My  Dear  Sir : — Yes,  sir;  our  February  meeting  discussed 
"  Compositions,"  as  you  suggested,  Mr.  Johnson  presiding. 
Mr.  Lowell  spoke  first,  and  with  more  energy  than  I  had 
ever  before  seen  him  exhibit : 

"  I  hate  the  word,  and  dread  composition  day  even  more 
than  my  pupils  do,  if  that  is  possible." 

Miss  Preston  laughed  softly,  and  then  inquired  if  under 
those  circumstances  he  was  successful  in  obtaining  good 
compositions  ? 

"  O,  fair,"  he  replied,  "  I  think  they  are  about  as  composi- 
tions average.  I  do  not  see  the  sense,  myself,  in  insisting 
upon  boys  and  girls  writing  compositions,  when  they  have 
not  half  a  dozen  ideas  among  the  whole  class ;  and  I  have 
more  than  once  petitioned  that  the  subject  be  dropped  from 
the  course  of  study  in  my  department." 

"  May  I  inquire  about  the  method  you  use  ?  " 

"  Certainly.  In  the  first  place  I  require  one  from  each 
pupil  every  month.  That  gives  me  all  the  trouble  I  want 
with  them,  for  it  is  like  pulling  eye-teeth  to  get  a  decent 
composition  from  some  of  them." 

"Do  they  select  their  own  subjects?" 


62  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

"No,  I  tried  that,' but  found  it  did  not  work  satisfactorily. 
Nearly  all  were  troubled  to  think  of  a  subject,  or  what  to 
say  about  it  when  they  did." 

"Who  reads  them?" 

"  Each  one  reads  his  own.  I  give  them  half  an  hour  in 
which  to  write,  and  they  spend  the  rest  of  the  time  in  read- 
ing what  they  have  written." 

"  And  who  corrects  them  ? " 

*'  Oh,  we  are  none  of  us  critical  enough  for  that.  It  is 
hard  enough  to  get  the  writing  done  in  the  first  place,  with- 
out worrying  about  it  afterward." 

"Just  my  mind,"  chimed  in  Miss  Wood.  "And  I  do 
not  fancy  trying  to  turn  my  school  room  into  a  shop  for 
making  poets  and  essayists.  It  involves  more  friction  than 
anything  else  in  my  school,  except  my  constant  warfare  on 
whispering." 

Oh,  how  I  longed  to  hear  Miss  Preston  speak !  Why  our 
composition  days  are  a  real  treat  to  us ;  and  as  for  making 
drudgery  of  it  —  well,  it  is  a  pleasure.  But  Miss  Wells  was 
the  next  speaker. 

"  I  think  it  is  a  good  thing,  myself,  although  I  am  not  very 
successful  in  that  line." 

"How  do  you  manage ?"  queried  Mr.  Johnson. 

"Oh,  Wednesday  of  each  week  is  our  'Composition 
Day,'  and  I  have  a  certain  space  on  the  blackboard  where 
the  subject  is  found  written  out  for  each  week.  I  call  for 
not  less  than  about  five  hundred  words,  and  impose  a  pen- 
alty for  remissness." 

Then  Miss  Preston  inquired :  "  What  is  the  usual  style  of 
your  topics  ?  " 

"Last  week  we  had  'The  Pleasures  of  Memory,'  and  the 


WRONG  METHODS.  03 

week  before  '  The  Advantages  of  Education.'     Next  week 
we  are  to  have  '  Ambition.' " 

"  Do  they  do  their  own  work  ?  " 

"What  do  you  mean  by  that?" 

"I  mean,"  said  Miss  Preston,  slowly,  "do  they  write  out 
their  own  ideas  of  these  abstractions,  or  do  they  merely  copy 
the  sentiments  of  some  one  else  ?  " 

"  Oh,  as  to  that,  they  undoubtedly  get  all  the  help  they 
can  from  their  friends.  Indeed,  I  have  known  them  to  copy 
an  article  verbatim  from  print ;  but  I  am  not  bound  to  con- 
vict them  without  proof  positive  of  their  guilt,  and  in  nine 
cases  out  of  ten  I  cannot  furnish  this  —  even  if  morally  cer- 
tain that  the  articles  are  not  their  own." 

"Then  what  is  the  object  of  the  exercise?  We  only  gain 
power  by  putting  forth  power,  and  if  that  is  not  done  the 
object  of  writing  compositions  is  lost." 

"  I  have  never  entered  into  the  question  of  effect  in  my 
plans  for  pupils,"  said  Miss  Wells,  "but  if  any  one  can  sug- 
gest an  improvement  on  my  way  I  am  open  to  conviction." 

Mr.  Johnson  looked  doubtfully  toward  Miss  Preston,  and 
with  some  hesitation  said :  "  Perhaps  Miss  Preston  will  help 
us  out." 

"I  am  not  sure  that  I  can,"  she  replied  with  a  smile; 
"but  my  impression  is  that  we  invest  the  exercise  with  too 
much  formality.  In  the  first  place  we  select  subjects  en- 
tirely beyond  the  range  of  an  ordinary  child's  thought,  and 
then  insist  upon  a  set  number  of  lines  or  words  and  say, 
'Write.'  By  this  we  induce  them  to  hate  the  work,  and  to 
cheat  themselves  by  avoiding  it;  or,  almost  as  bad,  we  permit 
them  to  write  in  a  style  entirely  foreign  to  themselves,  and 
one  which  is  injurious  in  its  effect  on  their  habits  of  writing." 


6  4  PKESTOfi  PAPERS. 

"  How  ran  we  avoid  these  serious  results  ?  "  queried  our 
superintendent. 

"  You  may  well  call  them  serious,  and  we  must  study  how 
to  avoid  them.  I  do  not  think  I  have  any  set  method  ;  rather 
let  the  occa-sion  make  the  method.  For  instance,  if  my  his- 
tory class  has  had  a  lesson  of  unusual  interest  or  value,  and 
I  wish  to  impress  it  upon  the  minds  of  my  pupils,  I  ask  them 
to  put  their  thoughts  of  the  person,  place  or  circumstance 
into  words  of  their  own.  Sometimes  they  use  their  slates, 
sometimes  the  blackboard,  and  frequently  it  is  an  oral  exer- 
cise. Then  if  I  find  it  desirable  to  be  more  elaborate  I  ask 
them  to  copy  them  on  paper,  and  after  looking  over  and 
correcting  them,  I  select  one  or  more  to  be  read  in  public  at 
our  next  reception,  and  perhaps  some  will  be  requested  for 
our  weekly  paper.  So  with  my  other  classes.  If  my  arith- 
metic class  has  surmounted  a  difficulty,  it  is  easy  for  them 
to  write  of  their  struggle  and  of  the  victory  gained.  Some- 
times the  current  events  furnish  better  topics  than  anything 
else  could ;  for  instance,  Garfield's  assassination  and  death 
filled  every  pupil  in  my  school  at  that  time  with  unlimited 
food  for  thought.  The  recent  floods  in  Pennsylvania  have 
also  been  prolific  of  topics ;  the  distress  they  have  caused, 
the  damage  done,  etc.,  etc.  The  great  fire  at  Seattle  and 
the  Quebec  disaster  were  equally  useful  in  supplying  themes 
for  the  juvenile  pens.  The  unexpected  results  of  the  No- 
vember election  brought  out  political  and  temperance  com- 
positions by  the  score.  I  seldom  give  them  an  abstract 
subject — never  without  first  preparing  them  for  it  by  a 
familiar  talk  with  them  concerning  the  thing  to  be  dis- 
cussed, and  I  sometimes  find  it  necessary  to  give  them  sev- 
eral days  in  which  to  look  it  up.  Sometimes  I  read  them  a 


NOT  A  BUGBEAR.  05 

short  story  or  poem,  and  call  for  a  paraphrase  ;  but  under 
all  circumstances  I  would  first  seek  to  inspire  them  with 
interest  and  enthusiasm,  and  this  done  there  is  no  trouble 
in  securing  ideas  or  the  expression  of  them.  My  work  is 
then  to  give  them  hints  as  to  style,  rules  for  capitalizing,  etc." 

Trouble  in  securing  ideas,  or  their  expression  !  I  should 
think  not,  indeed !  Why  the  one  or  two  whose  productions; 
are  selected  for  public  reading  are  so  highly  honored  by  the 
distinction  thus  conferred  upon  them  that  each  one  strives 
to  do  his  best.  Then  Miss  Preston  keeps  a  big  drawer,  on 
purpose  for  all  the  compositions  that  are  given  her  by  her 
pupils  after  she  has  corrected,  and  they  copied,  signed  and 
dated  them.  For  convenience,  they  are  spread  out  in  the 
covers  of  an  old  geography  and  are  supposed  to  be  free  to 
exhibit  to  visitors  who  want  to  know  how  the  school  pros- 
pers; or  they  can  be  used  for  public  or  private  rhetorical 
exercises,  or  for  whatever  purpose  she  deems  best. 

Miss  Preston  does  not  make  a  bugbear  of  the  work,  as 
most  of  it  is  voluntary ;  and  if  she  assigns  a  topic  to  anyone, 
or  to  a  class,  it  is  because  of  their  peculiar  fitness  for  the 
theme,  and  their  interest  in  it.  She  has  been  requested  to 
bring  some  samples  to  our  next  meeting,  and  I  know  of  sev- 
eral fine  historical  essays  produced  by  her  pupils  last  term, 
which  I  hope  she  will  take. 

But  I  must  leave  this  interesting  subject;  and  perhaps  I 
can  tell  you  more  after  our  next  meeting. 
Yours  Truly, 

Miss  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 
5 


66  PRESTON  PAPEKS 


No.  XIII. 

MANAGEMENT. 

OLDTOWN,  N.  Y.,  April  4/188-. 
MY  DEAR  SUPERINTENDENT  : 

I  think  I  must  go  away  back  to  our  January  meeting,  and 
take  up  a  back  stitch  that  proved  valuable  in  our  work,  and 
which  may  help  some  half-discouraged  teacher  among  your 
forces. 

Mr.  Johnson  had  previously  announced  that  we  would 
make  a  special  study  on  that  day  of  "  How  shall  I  best 
promote  the  interests  of  my  school  ?  "  and  requested  us  to 
give  the  subject  our  careful  attention,  and  then  bring  to  our 
Association  a  written  answer  to  the  query,  supplemented  by 
a  brief  statement  of  the  reason  why  we  thought  that  the  true 
method.  (  You  will  observe  that  the  tone  of  our  meetings  is 
somewhat  more  elevated  than  when  they  were  merely  places 
for  reading  statistics.  Some  thanks  are  due  to  you,  for  your 
talks  and  suggestions,  as  well  as  much,  very  much,  to  Miss 
Preston.) 

Well,  we  were  interested  in  studying  out  why  we  had 
succeeded,  if  we  had,  and  the  cause  of  failure  if  the  best 
interests  of  our  school  had  not  been  promoted  by  us;  and  at 
the  appointed  hour  not  one  was  "among  the  missing."  A 
hat  was  passed  for  the  literary  contributions,  which  were 


THE  KEY  NOTE.  67 

then  read  by  the  collector,  and  I  herewith  append  a  hasty 
synopsis  of  a  few  of  the  more  characteristic  ones. 

"  By  strict  discipline. 

We  are  all  rebels  by  nature,  and  once  the  law  is  not  enforced,  disorder 
prevails :  the  greatest  obstacle  to  the  best  interest  of  any  school." 

We  were  somewhat  surprised  afterward  to  learn  that  this 
came  from  Mr.  Lowell,  noted  as  he  is  for  his  want  of 
discipline. 

"  By  maintaining  our  dignity. 

This  is  preeminently  the  age  and  nation  for  hero  worship.  In  the  mind 
of  the  average  child  no  one  holds  a  higher  place  than  his  teacher,  and  if 
we  succeed  we  must  not  allow  'familiarity'  to  '  breed  contempt.'  " 

Another  instance  where  theory  and  practice  do  not  go 
hand  in  hand,  for  this  came  from  one  of  our  young  lady 
teachers,  who  never  understood  the  first  principles  of  true 
dignity.  Is  it  always  so  ?  Do  we  base  our  ideal  theories 
upon  what  we  feel  that  we  lack  in  ourselves  ? 

"  By  enforcing  our  rules. 

Laws  that  are  not  maintained  by  penalties  for  their  non-observance  are 
mere  nullities.  Every  school  is  a  miniature  kingdom,  of  which  the 
teacher  is  ruler,  and  the  pupils  subjects,  nolens  volens" 

A  lively  discussion  followed  this  proposition,  during  which 
it  was  decided  that  in  too  many  of  the  miniature  kingdoms 
th.ere  are  tyrants  for  rulers ;  that  tyrants  incite  to  rebellion  ; 
and  that  sugar  plums  may  be  as  effective  in  some  cases  as 
c.annon  balls. 

"  By  securing  the  cooperation  of  parents,  pupils,  and  trustees  with  the 
teacher. 

In  union  we  find  strength  ;  in  division  weakness.  If  the  elements  are 
harmonized  the  whole  will  be  symmetrical ;  but  if  the  parts  cannot  be 
made  to  join,  the  superstructure  is  unsafe." 

We  recognized  the  personality  of  this  key  note,  and  all  our 


68  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

hearts  responded  to  the  sound  of  its  music.  Miss  Preston 
was  called  upon  to  illustrate  her  meaning,  which  she  did 
somewhat  as  follows : 

"  Perhaps  I  can  best  explain  my  idea  by  relating  an  expe- 
rience of  ten  or  twelve  years  since.  I  was  young  and  a 

stranger  to  everyone  in  the  little  Village  of  M ,  when  I 

accepted  a  position  there  as  teacher  in  the  primary  depart- 
ment of  their  Union  School.  The  principal  of  the  school 
was  a  middle  aged  man  of  dead  ideas,  always  wearing  an 
apologetic  expression  and  seldom  speaking  of  his  school  or 
patrons,  except  to  whine  at  their  indifference  or  to  prophesy 
something  dismal  of  the  future.  He  pitied  me  for  my 
enthusiasm  when  I  proposed  during  the  first  month  to  invite 
the  parents  to  visit  my  school.  Said  he  : 

*Why  I  have  taught  here  nine  years,  and  in  all  that  time 
only  six  of  the  parents  have  opened  the  door;  and  they  did 
it  only  to  find  fault  with  me  for  something  I  had  done  or 
left  undone.' 

'  And  do  the  trustees  never  come  in  ? '  I  asked. 

*  Yes,  when  I  send  for  them  to  substantiate  my  claim  in 
some  way.  On  any  other  occasion  they  send  Mr.  Hubbard, 
their  secretary,  to  see  if  anything  is  needed;  and  as  he  is 
timid  (?)  he  walks  around  outside  of  the  building,  and  I'm 
not  aware  of  his  presence  until  his  little  dog  comes  bounding 
and  barking  into  the  hall,  making  the  children  titter.  Then 
I  know  that  his  master  is  not  far  off  and  I  hunt  him  up  after 
school  closes  and  have  a  talk  with  him.' 

I  confess  it  looked  rather  dubious,  but  I  wrote  letters  of 
invitation  to  each  of  the  trustees,  and  two  for  each  pupil  — 
one  to  be  given  to  his  parents,  the  other  to  his  best  friend, 
one  hundred  twenty  in  all.  Then  I  called  for  volunteers 


COOPER  A  TION.  fig 

among  the  pupils  to  help  entertain  their  friends  with  music, 
recitations,  readings,  etc.,  and  every  child  took  a  part " 

"  Did  you  succeed  in  getting  any  one  out  to  your  recep- 
tion ?  "  queried  Mr.  Johnson,  with  interest. 

"Why,  yes.     The  room  was  crowded." 

"  What  was  the  form  of  your  invitation  ? "  asked  Miss 
Wells,  greatly  interested. 

"  Oh,  about  the  same  as  any  'At  Home '  on  a  society  card." 

"  Had  you  met  most  of  the  parents  before  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no.  But  I  think  a  teacher  ought  not  always  to  wait 
for  the  parents  to  take  the  initial  step  toward  an  acquaint- 
ance that  must  be  a  mutual  benefit.  To  be  sure  it  is  pleas- 
anter  for  us  when  they  do  so,  but  so  many  things  hinder  busy 
people  from  starting;  yet  they  would  be  more  than  glad  to 
meet  us  half  way.  The  surest  way  to  any  parent's  heart  is 
through  their  children ;  and  they  will  always  be  inclined  to 
assist  those  who  take  an  interest  in  the  juveniles." 

"  But  how  did  you  manage  the  trustees  ? "  again  asked  our 
superintendent. 

"Easily.  I  simply  changed  the  form  of  the  card,  and 
hinted  that  the  prosperity  of  our  school  was  due  largely  to 
their  financiering,  and  that  it  depended  somewhat  upon  their 
interest  in  its  everyday  matters." 

Let  me  tell  you  how  else  she  manages  to  secure  the  coope- 
ration of  parents.  She  calls  on  every  one  of  her  pupils  every 
year,  sometimes  oftener.  None  are  so  poor  or  so  wretched 
as  to  merit  her  neglect  —  none  so  far  away  that  she  will  not 
go  to  them.  And  no  child  is  ever  absent  from  school  two 
days  in  succession  without  an  extra  call  from  her.  If  she 
finds  them  sick,  she  ministers  to  them ;  badly  clothed  she 
institutes  work  by  which  they  can  help  themselves  to  better; 


70  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

indifferent  about  attendance,  this  call  is  sure  to  rouse  them; 
and  the  gratitude  of  the  parents  is  visible  in  their  love  for 
her,  and  in  their  interest  in  her  success.  She  gains  them  all, 
without  an  effort.  No,  not  without  an  effort;  not  without  a 
sacrifice  of  personal  comfort,  leisure,  society,  strength.  But 
her  success  is  compensatory  for  all  these.  Her  pupils,  their 
parents,  the  trustees,  are  her  firm  allies  now,  and  will  remain 
her  life-long  friends.  O,  I  could  tell  you  of  so  many  of 
her  ways  for  securing  this  cooperation  that  results  in  such 
mutual  benefit  —  little  in  themselves,  mayhap,  but  aggrega- 
ting grandly.  Space  and  time  forbid  further  particulars  at 
present,  however. 

Yours  Truly, 

Miss  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 


A    TEACHER'S  OPPORTUNITIES. 


No.  XIV. 

ENVIRONMENT. 

OLDTOWN,  N.  Y.,  June  i,  188-. 
MR. ,  State  Supt.  of  Public  Instruction. 

My  Dear  Sir :  —  I  believe  I  have  never  told  you  how 
Miss  Preston  got  the  school  yard  cleared  up  and  beautified 
last  Spring.  As  it  required  so  little  effort  on  her  part  and 
yet  resulted  in  so  much  good  (  not  only  to  our  school  but  to 
individuals  outside  whom  I  feel  sure  she  reached  uninten- 
tionally ),  I  will  give  you  a  brief  outline.  If  any  one  has 
better  or  more  numerous  opportunities  than  another  to 
exercise  a  missionary  spirit,  that  one  is  the  public  school 
teacher.  He  has  access  to  at  least  as  many  homes  as  there 
are  representatives  in  the  school ;  and  in  each  of  these 
homes  the  teacher  may  be  a  power  for  the  good,  the  true* 
the  beautiful.  I  have  only  recently  learned  to  think  of 
these  things,  and  now  my  attention  to  it  is  entirely  due  to 
MissJPrestOn's  influence  and  to  your  talks  and  letters.  If  she 
has  not  entirely  revolutionized  our  dull  old  city,  she  has  at 
least  worked  wonders  in  it  in  some  directions.  But  I  will 
not  stop  to  moralize,  as  a  plain  statement  of  the  facts  and 
her  manner  of  dealing  with  them  will  suggest  the  simple 
"  How  "  to  other  teachers. 

The  yard  is  large  and  well  shaded,  but  has  never  been 
kept  clean  until  within  the  last  two  years  —  the  leaves  of 


72  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

Autumn  serving  as  decoration  for  Spring.  The  ashes  and 
cinders  from  the  basement  beautified  one  side  of  the  yard, 
while  a  pile  of  kindling  ornamented  the  other.  These 
received  some  valuable  auxiliaries  in  the  shape  of  waste 
papers,  thrown  from  every  window,  remains  of  lunches 
(bread  crusts,  apple  cores,  orange  peel,  etc.),  with  now  and 
then*  a  stray  rubber  by  way  of  variety. 

Of  course  the  papers  gradually  disappeared  after  the 
advent  of  the  waste  paper  basket,  mentioned  in  a  former 
letter ;  but  this  did  not  diminish  the  ash  heap  nor  render 
the  other  things  invisible.  After  a  time  Miss  Preston  per- 
suaded those  who  brought  their  dinners  to  save  the  pieces 
usually  thrown  away,  in  a  newspaper  she  provided ;  and  she 
sent  them  by  one  of  the  big  boys  to  a  poor  family  living  in 
the  same  square,  for  their  hens.  The  children  were  de- 
lighted to  have  the  scraps  of  food  utilized;  and  it  was  a 
godsend  to  the  poor  fowls,  who  were  not  overfed,  at  least. 

But  as  the  snows  of  winter  gave  place  to  grass,  the  yard 
began  to  be  talked  about.  Miss  Preston  agitated  the  sub- 
ject in  the  most  judicious  way,  never  fretting,  scolding  nor 
finding  fault.  This  she  never  does.  She  simply  said  one 
day  while  standing  in  the  yard  : 

"  Henry,  if  you  will  bring  a  rake  to  school  this  afternoon, 
we  will  see  if  five  or  six  of  us  cannot  improve  the  looks  of 
the  yard  a  little  bit." 

Henry  did  not  need  a  second  invitation,  such  he  consid- 
ered it,  and  volunteers  to  help  were  both  numerous  and 
eager.  The  yard  was  cleared  of  all  the  rubbish  except  the 
kindling  wood  and  ashes.  The  janitor  was  asked  to  have 
them  removed  —  the  former  to  the  basement,  and  the  latter 
to  fill  in  the  hollows  in  Jie  back  yard. 


THE   VASE  AND   THE  ROCKERY.  73 

One  morning  Miss  Preston  appeared  bearing  in  one  hand 
a  white  vase  or  urn,  such  as  adorn  the  yards  of  some  of  our 
"best  citizens,"  only  smaller.  When  one  of  the  girls  asked 
her  about  it  she  laughed  and  said :  "  I  guess  we  must  go  to 
the  woods  for  a  standard  for  it;"  and  after  school  our 
department  went  en  masse,  and  when  a  stump  of  the  desired 
size  and  shape  had  been  found,  the  boys  dragged  it  down  to 
the  yard  for  her  and,  following  her  directions,  placed  it  in 
the  center  of  the  left  yard,  and  the  vase  was  fastened  to  its 
top  by  means  of  nails  driven  around  it.  It  was  then  filled 
with  dirt ;  and  bits  of  yellow  myrtle,  coliseum  ivy,  and 
othonno,  were  stuck  into  the  soil  and  left  to  grow  and  cover 
both  vase  and  stump.  After  being  pronounced  "  a  beauty," 
"  lovely,"  etc.,  it  transpired  that  the  vase  was  the  top  of  an 
old  stove  which  some  one  was  throwing  away,  when  she 
begged  it  for  the  purpose  named.  She  took  it  to  the  wagon 
shop,  where  she  got  it  painted  for  ten  cents. 

The  next  week  she  said,  just  before  dismissing  school  one 
day :  "  If  some  of  the  boys  will  help  me  a  while  to-night,  we 
will  start  a  rockery  in  the  right-hand  yard,  opposite  the 
vase."  You  may  be  sure  that  there  was  no  lack  of  help ; 
and  while  the  big  boys  did  the  lifting,  the  little  ones  helped 
.pile  the  stones  in  the  desired  shape.  By  degrees  working 
only  a  few  minutes  at  a  time,  this  was  finished  and  filled 
with  soil,  and  creeping  Jenny  was  brought,  to  grow  over  the 
sides.  A  cross  was  erected  in  the  center,  and  scarlet  run- 
ners, morning  glories,  sweet  peas  and  a  hop  vine  were  trained 
over  and  around  it.  It  was  beautiful. 

Afterwards  a  geranium  bank  was  built  against  the  south 
end  of  the  school  house,  and  kept  a  perfect  mass  of  bloom 
there  during  the  whole  season.  This  year  two  large  flower 


74 


PXESTON  PAPERS. 


beds  have  been  started  for  pansies,  verbenas,  phlox,  etc., 
with  what  result  you  shall  surely  know  in  time. 

Then  she  went  to  the  Board  of  Education  and  asked  if 
they  had  any  fund  which  they  could  legally  appropriate  to 
the  purchase  of  two  croquet  sets !  Having  great  confidence 
in  her  "  management "  they  gave,  without  a  murmur,  what 
no  one  else  would  have  dared  to  ask  for ;  and  the  croquet 
was  put  up,  one  set  on  each  side  of  the  back  yard,  for  the 
pupils'  use. 

I  need  not  say  that  all  these  things  have  paid  large  divid- 
ends, for  the  money  invested  and  for  the  extra  labor.  Riots 
in  our  school  are  unknown,  truancy  unheard  of  ;  and  every 
pupil  is  the  loyal  subject  of  a  loving  sovereign. 

I  must  tell  you  that  Mr.  Johnson  has  been  suddenly  taken 
sick,  and  by  common  consent  of  the  Board  of  Education  he 
has  asked  Miss  Preston  to  officiate  as  superintendent  during 
his  illness.  Will  she  be  a  success?  Yes,  if  she  consents  to 
take  it  all — for  she  never  goes  beyond  her  depth. 

More  anon,  from 

Yours  Very  Truly, 

Miss  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 


MISS  PJtES TON'S  PROMOTION. 


75 


No.  XV. 

HEALTH. 

OLDTOWN,  N.  Y.,  Nov.  30,  188-. 
MR. ,  State  Supt.,  etc. 

My  Dear  Sir :  —  So  much  has  been  begun,  accomplished, 
and  become  a  thing  of  the  past,  since  my  last  letter,  that  I 
hardly  know  where  to  begin.  But  I  think  I  will  go  away 
back  to  our  September  meeting,  for  the  topic  announced  for 
discussion  was  so  unusual,  and  at  the  same  time  of  so  general 
interest,  that  I  cannot  forbear  thinking  that  a  synopsis  of  it 
may  be  welcomed  by  your  intelligent  teachers. 

Two  years  ago  we  should  have  been,  —  well,  to  put  it 
mildly  —  astonished  to  hear  Mr.  Johnson  suggest  anything 
out  of  the  old,  stereotyped  way  for  our  consideration ;  but 
since  the  advent  among  us  of  a  teacher  who  lives  and,  living, 
thinks,  we  have  found  to  our  surprise  that  the  educational 
"  world  does  move; "  for  when  we  came  together  for  the  first 
time  after  the  long  vacation,  we  found  Mr.  Johnson  partly 
recovered  from  his  illness,  but  not  well  enough  to  perform 
all  his  duties  as  superintendent,  and  with  Miss  Preston  for 
his  chosen  deputy!  Miss  Preston,  whom  he  had  well  nigh 
beheaded  for  heresy  only  two  years  ago !  Miss  Preston, 
who  for  some  months  was  a  veritable  "  thorn  in  the  flesh " 
to  our  conservative  superintendent,  because  of  her  radical 


7<J  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

notions  and  her  persistent,  although  unobtrusive,  declaration 
of  them! 

Well,  we  were  not  as  entirely  unprepared  for  the  blessed 
denouement  as  we  might  have  been,  for  we  had  all  noticed 
how,  unconsciously  to  himself,  perhaps,  he  had  been  gradu- 
ally won  over  to  her  views  of  school  matters ;  so  after  our 
reorganization  we  were  not  so  much  surprised  to  hear  his 
proposal  as  the  subject  for  our  next  regular  meeting,  "Our 
health :  why  and  how  shall  we  promote  it  ?  " 

We  were  requested  to  consider  it  seriously,  analytically, 
and  thoroughly,  and  then  to  come  to  the  meeting  prepared 
to  give  our  views  and  their  reasons ;  our  experiences  of  the 
past  and  plans  for  the  future. 

So  totally  unlike  the  old,  formal  meetings  of  our  Associa- 
tion, where  we  did  nothing  but  read  statistics  and  receive 
commendation  for  their  fullness  or  censure  for  their  incom- 
pleteness !  Verily,  time  should  be  measured  by  our  work 
instead  of  by  the  ticking  of  the  clock;  for  in  this  short  space 
we  have  learned  more  of  our  profession,  done  more  for  it  and 
better  work  in  it,  than  in  all  the  long  years  that  preceded  it. 

I  have  only  one  regret  at  the  changes  wrought ;  I  am  no 
longer  "  Miss  Preston's  Assistant,"  she  being  removed  to  a 
wider  circle  of  action — and  I  was  glad  to  be  known  as  such. 
Is  it  too  late  for  me  to  make  a  place  for  myself  among  think- 
ing teachers?  Will  it  be  an  advantage  to  me  to  be  left  more 
dependent  upon  myself,  now  that  I  have  been  really  "  waked 
up  "  to  my  position  and  its  responsibilities  ?  Can  I  ever 
hope  to  accomplish  anything  for  the  cause,  myself?  These 
and  similar  questions  are  formulated  daily,  hourly,  con- 
stantly, as  I  teach,  work,  or  write.  But,  concerning  health 
as  discussed  by  our  Association : 


CARLYLE'S  LAW  OF  CULTURE.  77 

Mr.  Johnson  occupied  the  chair ;  the  meeting  took  the 
form  adopted  by  common  consent  a  year  and  a  half  previ- 
ously :  an  experience,  conference,  or  class  meeting.  Mr. 
Lowell  spoke  first : 

"  As  to  the  '  why '  we  should  try  to  make  the  most  of  our 
physical  nature.  We  are  all  more  or  less  governed  in  all 
that  we  do  by  selfish  motives;  and  I  think  that  for  our  own 
comfort  and  convenience,  if  for  nothing  else,  we  should  avoid 
things  that  we  know  to  be  harmful,  and  cultivate  the  habits 
that  we  find  by  observation  and  experience  are  most  bene- 
ficial in  their  results." 

"Very  good,"  said  Mr.  Johnson;  "it  is  true  that  we  are 
promoting  our  own  interests  in  seeking  to  improve  our  bodily 
health.  Who  has  another  suggestion  ?  " 

Miss  Miller  arose  somewhat  timidly,  to  advance  her  ideas 
on  the  subject.  Another  indication  that  "  the  waters  have 
been  troubled,"  for  she  has  heretofore  been  a  "  silent  part- 
ner" in  our  concern,  except  when  personally  called  upon  to 
express  herself,  and  then  she  has  done  it  so  diffidently  that 
we  have  felt  sure  she  would  rather  listen  than  speak. 

"  I  think  it  may  be  done  from  a  sense  of  duty  to  ourselves, 
quite  as  much  as  from  a  seeking  after  personal  comfort  and 
convenience.  Our  full  measure  of  self-duty  is  not  rounded 
until  we  have  done  all  that  we  know  is  for  our  good." 

The  idea  of  making  our  health  a  matter  of  conscience! 
It  was  new  to  some  of  us  any  way,  but  I  think  it's  not  so 
bad  a  suggestion  after  all.  Is  it  not  Carlyle  who  declares 
the  law  of  culture  to  be  (in  effect),  Let  each  become  all  that 
he  was  created  capable  of  being ;  expand,  if  possible,  to  his 
full  growth,  resisting  all  impediments,  casting  off  all  foreign 
especially  all  noxious,  adhesions,  and  show  himself  in  his 


78  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

own  shape  and  stature,  be  these  what  they  may  ?     All  that  , 
we  are  "  created  capable  of  being,"  means  so  much.     But  I 
digress. 

Mr.  Wheeler  spoke  next : 

"I  am  inclined  to  be  governed  by  Mr.  Lowell's  stated 
conviction  that  selfish  motives  may  be  the  inspiration  that 
governs  me  in  seeking  to  improve  my  physical  nature.  I 
enjoy  life  when  I'm  well;  but  if  suffering  from  neuralgia, 
malaria,  dyspepsia,  or  fever,  my  pleasure  in  existence  is 
gone." 

Verily,  he  seemed  like  health  personified  as  he  stood  there. 
Tall,  straight,  well  proportioned,  and  ruddy  of  countenance, 
he  might  indeed  "enjoy  life,"  and  one  could  hardly  imagine 
him  conquered  by  disease. 

"  That  is  good,  too,"  observed  Mr.  Johnson,  "  as  far  as  it 
goes ;  has  any  one  else  a  '  why '  for  us  to  consider  ? " 

Next  Miss  Wood  spoke  : 

"As  a  matter  of  economy  it  would  be  well  for  some  of  us  to 
study  the  first  principles  of  health.  Besides  having  been 
off  duty  several  months,  and  thereby  curtailing  my  salary,  I 
have  recently  paid  a  doctor's  bill  of  $45  ;  and  financial  con- 
siderations alone  would  be  sufficient  to  lead  me  to  give  more 
attention  to  the  matter  than  I  have  ever  done  before." 

My  own  turn  seemed  to  be  right  here,  and  I  ventured  the 
observation  that  since  my  daily  bread  was  secured  by  the 
performance  of  duties  that  could  not  be  done  in  sickness, 
financial  considerations  were  of  some  importance  to  me  also. 

Miss  Smith  came  next : 

"Well,  my  Yankee  spirit  rebels  at  the  idea  of  being 
dependent  upon  one  else,  as  all  sick  people  must  be  in 
a  greater  or  less  degree,  in  proportion  to  their  helplessness. 


MORALS  OF  GOOD  HEALTH.  79 

I  don't  like  even  to  feel  that  I  am  marring  some  one  else's 
pleasure,  by  asking  for  quiet  because  my  head  aches.  I 
don't  want  to  be  obliged  to  wait  for  some  one  to  do  my 
errands  or  to  wait  upon  me  because  I  am  unable  to  do  either 
for  myself.  Health  is  liberty;  disease  is  slavery;  "  and  she 
sat  down  as  abruptly  as  she  had  spoken,  leaving  a  visible 
effect  on  the  minds  of  some  of  her  auditors. 

I  began  to  think  Miss  Preston  did  not  mean  to  speak  on 
this  subject,  but  she  now  said,  slowly  and  without  rising : 

"  These  are  all  good  reasons,  and  show  the  importance  of 
making  an  effort  to  promote  our  health ;  but  I  am  not  sure 
we  have  found  the  prime  '  Why '  embodied  in  any  one  or 
all  of  them.  '  No  man  liveth  to  himself ; '  and  although  a 
proper  degree  of  thought  and  care  for  self  is  not  only  com- 
mendable but  necessary,  I  think  we  must  go  even  further 
than  that,  and  consider  somewhat  our  relations  to  others, 
and  their  happiness,  comfort,  and  convenience.  Nor  can  we 
ignore  the  fact  that  we,  as  teachers,  have  a  special  responsi- 
bility in  the  matter;  for  we  cannot  do  our  duty  by  those  over 
whom  we  have  voluntarily  assumed  a  guardianship,  if  by 
reason  of  physical  disability  our  chief  thought  is  given  to 
ourselves ;  and  we  have  no  moral  right  to  come  into  school 
day  after  day,  with  our  tempers  so  tried  by  physical  suffering 
which  we  might  prevent,  that  we  cannot  do  full  justice  to 
the  physical,  mental,  and  moral  necessities  of  our  pupils. 
We  have  no  right,  as  teachers,  to  make  our  pupils  feel  our 
pain,  nor  to  render  them  the  least  injustice  by  neglecting  to 
'round  up  the  full  measure  of  our  duty  '  to  them." 

Of  course  hers  was  the  broader,  more  noble  view  of  the 
question,  as  usual ;  but  we  all  acquiesced  in  it  mentally,  if 
not  verbally.  Mr.  Johnson  had  betrayed  more  than  ordi- 


8o  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

nary  interest  in  this  part  of  the  discussion,  and  now  added 
his  mite  to  the  general  contribution : 

"There  is  one  phase  of  the  subject  untouched  as  yet,  I 
believe.  Time  is  an  important  element  in  our  work,  and  all 
that  is  lost  by  sickness  is  so  much  taken  from  our  allotted 
three-score-and-ten.  We  have  no  right  to  waste  our  time 
nor  to  shorten  our  years  by  endangering  or  injuring  our 
health." 

There  were  other  speakers,  and  some  minor  lights  were 
thrown  upon  the  subject,  but  the  question  soon  turned  on 
the  "  How  ?  "  Space  and  time  alike  forbid  the  rehearsal  of 
the  points  made  on  this  division  of  the  subject,  until  you 
hear  again  from  , 

Yours  Very  Truly, 

Miss  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 

( For  as  such  I  still  prefer  to  be  known,  having  made  youi 
acquaintance  while  in  that  capacity.) 


BREATHING.  81 


No.  XVI. 

H  E  ALTH.     (  Continued. ) 

OLDTOWN,  N.  Y.,  March,  188-. 

MR. ,  State  Supt.,  etc. 

My  Dear  Sir :  — "  How  shall  we  promote  our  health  ? " 
seemed  to  us  even  more  practical,  as  we  advanced  in  its 
discussion,  than  did  the  first  part  of  the  question,  the 
"Why." 

"  I  think,**  said  our  Superintendent,  with  some  hesitancy, 
"  that  as  breath  is  the  essential  of  life,  perhaps  we  had  better 
open  this  part  of  the  subject  by  the  ideas  we  have  gained 
from  experience,  concerning  breathing.  To  appreciate  the 
necessity  for  knowledge  on  this  subject,  one  only  needs  to 
have  the  respiration  become  short  and  painful  for  a  few 
days.  A  long,  full  breath,  one  which  is  painless,  will  be 
looked  upon  as  a  real  luxury  then,"  and  he  smiled  faintly. 

Stern,  cold  and  hard  as  he  had  always  seemed  to  us,  I 
think  not  one  but  felt  a  secret  sympathy  for  him,  knowing 
that  his  words  must  have  been  the  result  of  his  recent 
experience. 

Mr.  Wheeler  added :  "  Yes,  and  it  is  such  a  cheap  luxury, 
too.  The  trouble  is,  that  nine  tenths  of  us  don't  know  how  to 
breathe." 

Really,  I  had  never  thought  of  it  before,  but  I  began  to  be 
interested.  "Is  this  a  part  of  the  New  Education?"  I 
6 


82  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

asked  myself.  "Are  we  to  breathe  by  rule,  as  we  learn 
arithmetic?  " 

I  had  no  time  to  formulate  the  thoughts  that  crowded  in 
through  the  little  door  that  had  been  set  slightly  ajar  in  my 
brain,  for  Miss  Wood  immediately  spoke  : 

"  Not  know  how  ?    What  do  you  mean,  Mr.  Wheeler  ?  " 

"  Precisely  what  I  said,"  with  a  smile ;  "  we  breathe,  for 
instance,  through  our  mouths  instead  of  through  our  noses 
more  than  half  of  the  time,  thereby  filling  our  lungs  with 
dust,  as  well  as  with  air  that  is  too  cold  before  it  passes 
through  the  place  where  our  Creator  intended  that  it  should. 
Again  ;  we  do  not  breathe  deeply  enough.  We  are  satisfied 
to  take  a  short  respiration  which  only  half  fills  the  lungs, 
that  should  be  filled  full  at  every  upward  movement  of  the 
chest." 

Breathing!  so  simple  a  thing  —  and  yet  in  this  nineteenth 
century  even  that  is  reduced  to  an  exact  science  !  What 
next? 

"  And  then  our  eating  is,  so  much  of  it,  wrong.  We  eat 
too  much ;  too  often ;  and  things  that  are  not  calculated  to 
repair  the  wastes  that  are  continually  going  on  in  our  sys- 
tems. We  do  not  sufficiently  study  our  body-functions. 
Our  digesting  apparatus  is  more  of  a  mystery  to  most  of  us 
than  Kepler's  Three  Laws,  or  the  doctrine  of  evolution." 

This,  of  course,  came  from  Miss  Smith.  She  has  a  breezy 
way  that  is  refreshing  in  some  temperatures,  although  rather 
chilling  in  others.  I  like  her  though;  I  can't  help  it  —  if 
she  is  somewhat  incisive  in  her  remarks. 

"What  is  '  too  often  ? "  was  Miss  Miller's  rather  apologetic 
inquiry.  "  We  can  hardly  take  more  than  three  meals  a  day  if 
we  are  teaching,  and  I've  never  supposed  that  extravagant." 


REST.  83 

"  True  ;  and  if  we  only  ate  at  meal  times  there  would  be 
fewer  cases  of  headache,  indigestion  and  dyspepsia.  As  a 
rule,  we  give  our  digestive  organs  plenty  to  do  with  what  we 
eat  at  table ;  but  how  few  of  us  refuse  fruit,  nuts  or  candy 
between  times !  " 

Silence  for  a  few  moments ;  perhaps  we  were  undergoing 
a  sort  of  self-examination,  for  directly  Mr.  Lowell  "con- 
fessed "  for  all  of  us : 

"  I  think  we  must  all  plead  guilty  to  that  home  thrust," 
and  he  looked  around  to  see  if  there  was  any  dissent. 
Finding  none  he  proceeded  :  "  But  if  we  go  very  much  into 
details  here  we  shall  never  get  off  this  one  department  of 
the  subject,  and  there  are  so  many !  We  must  make  a  real 
study  of  this  thing,  and  as  '  A  word  to  the  wise  is  sufficient,' 
we  will,  perhaps,  do  well  to  discuss  this  matter  still  further 
in  the  future,  after  having  had  time  to  look  it  up  a  little 
more.  One  thing  occurs  to  me  just  now,  and  I  give  you  the 
thought  for  what  it  is  worth.  We  may  take  every  precau- 
tion as  to  eating  and  breathing  properly,  and  yet  neglect  the 
next  essential,  rest.  Too  few  of  us  know  how  to  rest,  or 
when  or  how  much.  Some  of  us  do  not  even  know  what 
real  rest  is." 

"  Do  you  mean  anything  further  than  sleep  ?  "  asked  Mr. 
Johnson. 

"  Oh,  yes.  Sometimes  a  mere  change  of  occupation  is 
rest.  We  cannot  do  the  same  thing  for  a  great  length  of 
time  without  some  weariness  to  the  organs  and  muscles  that 
are  brought  into  use  by  that  special  form  of  labor,  be  it  phys- 
ical or  mental ;  and  at  the  same  time  others  are  inactive,  and 
will  become  equally  weary  for  want  of  use." 

"  Then  you  do  not  consider  idleness  necessary  to  rest  ? " 


84  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

*'  Sometimes,  perhaps,  but  seldom.  But  we  should  be 
careful  not  to  pursue  the  same  thing  too  long  at  a  time, 
even  in  the  matter  of  recreation  and  rest.  Too  much  of  the 
same  sort,  even  of  rest,  is  not  good  for  us." 

Now  that  was  news  to  me.  I  had  never  really  thought  of 
it  before ;  but  I  think  it  must  be  true,  because  I  know  that 
I  have  always  found  myself  about  as  tired  of  "  doing  noth- 
ing "  during  my  summer  vacation  as  I  have  ever  been  by 
teaching ;  although,  to  be  sure,  I  have  only  recently  learned 
how  much  real  hard  work  can  be  carried  on  in  the  school 
room. 

"One  other  thing  occurs  to  me,"  said  Miss  Preston. 
"  Perhaps  all  of  us  rely  more  upon  tonics  and  narcotics  to 
carry  us  over  an  uneven  spot  in  our  journey  than  we  ought. 
Quinine,  chloral,  aconite,  etc.,  are  made  to  do  the  duty  of 
common  sense,  prudence  and  self-denial." 

"  I  have  heard,"  said  Mr.  Brown,  somewhat  sarcastically, 
"  that  '  An  ounce  of  prevention  is  worth  a  pound  of  cure ;  * 
and  perhaps  the  little  '  prevention  '  we  take  so  easily  keeps 
away  the  necessity  for  greater  doses. " 

"  Yes,  perhaps.  But  then  if  we  began  the  '  prevention ' 
a  little  earlier  in  the  day  it  would  be  better  still  by  removing 
the  necessity  for  even  a  tiny  dose,  from  the  effects  of  which 
our  systems  must  always  take  time  to  recover." 

"  I  think  our  dress  is  not  always  conducive  to  health," 
said  Miss  Wheeler.  "  Perhaps  I  should  say  ladies'  dress, 
for  I  rather  think  our  fathers  and  brothers  have  some  little 
advantage  there.  They  have  more  freedom  of  movement, 
more  room,  more  comfort,  and  consequently  more  good 
nature,  which  is  a  great  help  toward  good  health."  • 

Did  you  ever  hear  anything  more  absurd  ?     Good  health 


SYNOPSIS.  85 

secured  by  good  nature,  and   that  (partially  at  least)  by 
roomy  clothing ! 

I  find  I  must  stop,  but  if  you  like  I  will  crystallize  the  dif- 
ferent ideas  into  as  many  sentences,  and  you  may  have  them 
for  what  they  are  worth.  Then,  if  you  want  the  gist  of  our 
next  meeting  on  the  same  topic,  I'll  give  it  some  time  in  the 
future,  but  I  want  first  to  tell  you  how  Miss  Preston  teaches 
grammar,  which  I  shall  do  in  my  next: 

1.  Breathe  deeply,  through  the  nose,  with  closed  mouth. 

2.  Eat  regularly,  judiciously. 

3.  Rest  frequently ;  not  too  long  in  the  same  way. 

4.  Avoid  medicine  (  ordinarily  ),  but  do  not  be  sparing  of 
common  sense. 

5.  Dress  comfortably. 

6.  DON'T  WORRY. 

These  suggestions  are  few  and  simple,  but  we  have  tested 
them  pretty  severely  in  the  last  few  months,  and  are  pleased 
at  our  success. 

Yours  Respectfully, 

Miss  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 


PRESTON  PAPERS. 


No.  XVII. 

GRAMMAR. 

OLDTOWN,  N.  Y.,  May  i,  188-. 
STATE  SUPT.  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION. 

My  Very  Dear  Sir: —  Our  talk  on  "  Grammar  and  How  to 
Teach  It "  was  so  interesting  and  helpful  to  most  of  us  that 
I  wondered  if  it  might  not  be  useful  to  others  who  had  run 
across  a  similar  "snag."  Yes,  I  used  that  word  advisedly, 
for  it  has  been  a  very  serious  question  with  some  of  us  — 
with  me.  And  I  am  free  to  confess  that  the  trouble  began 
in  my  room  —  if  that  can  be  truly  called  "  trouble  "  which 
finally  results  in  so  much  good  to  so  many  people.  It  was 
on  this  wise : 

A  year  or  more  ago,  Colonel  Clinton  visited  our  school 
with  a  view  to  sending  his  youngest  daughter  there.  Now 
the  Colonel  is  very  peculiar.  He  has  views ;  and  as  he  has 
money  also,  he  can  afford  to  be  independent  in  his  expres- 
sion of  them.  He  does  not  believe  in  public  schools  and 
has  never  patronized  them,  having  hired  private  tutors  and 
governesses  for  his  children.  So  we  were  all  very  much 
astonished  to  hear  him  say,  after  having  sat  a  while : 

"Miss  Preston,  I  have  heard  so  much  of  your  work  in 
school,  that  I  thought  I  would  drop  in  and  see  if  the  reports 
had  not  been  greatly  exaggerated.  I  am  pleased  to  find 
that  they  have  not,  but  '  the  half  has  not  been  told  me ; ' 


FAULTS  OF   THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  87 

and  now  I  want,  if  you  can  receive  her,  to  send  my  daughter 
Katharine.  Her  governess  has  been  called  home  unexpect- 
edly by  the  death  of  her  mother,  and  cannot  come  back  to 
us.  But  I  see  you  are  pretty  well  filled  up  here.  Can  you 
take  her  ?  " 

"Yes,  I  think  so,"  said  Miss  Preston;  "we'll  manage  some 
way.  Has  she  never  been  to  school  ? " 

"  No.  None  of  my  children  have  ever  been  to  public 
school.  My  oldest  son  fitted  for  college  under  my  own 
supervision,  and  my  second  is  doing  the  same  ;  will  be 
ready,  we  think,  in  the  fall.  My  oldest  daughter  will  gradu- 
ate from  Wellesley  in  June;  my  second  daughter  entered 
last  year  —  and  now  here  is  Katharine,  just  about  with  your 
grade  in  her  studies,  I  should  think." 

"What  is  your  objection  to  tke  public  schools?"  asked 
Miss  Preston,  very  quietly.  You  could  not  have  guessed 
from  her  demeanor  that  he  had  touched  upon  her  favorite 
theme,  but  he  had. 

"Oh,  the  system  is  all  wrong,"  he  began,  but  stopped  sud- 
denly, as  if  recollecting  himself. 

"  Perhaps.  I  will  not  deny  that  it  has  faults,  very  grave 
ones,  it  may  be ;  but  I  have  never  found  that  the  mere  men- 
tion of  an  evil  rectified  it;  and  unless  we  have  something 
better  to  offer  in  its  place,  we  gain  nothing  by  criticising  it." 

"True;  very  true,"  he  replied  earnestly,  "and  I  think  you 
are  doing  your  full  duty  to  help  it.  You  do  not  do  as  so 
many  have  done  who  cry  '  down  '  with  the  system,  and  that 
is  just  why  I  want  Katharine  to  be  here.  As  a  general  thing 
the  schools  are  governed  by  cast  iron  rules,  and  graded  by 
a  sort  of  Procrustean  process  of  examination  that  lops  off 
or  stretches  the  pupils,  until  they  all  fit  one  educational 


88  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

bed,  without  regard  to  their  intellects,  home  surroundings, 
or  after  lives." 

Much  more  of  the  same  sort  —  worth  printing,  too,  for 
each  is  chock  full  of  ideas  on  this  subject  —  but  I  want  to 
tell  you  about  the  grammar  discussion,  and  must  not  stop  on 
the  way;  but  the  result  of  it  was  that  Katharine  came,  and 
Katharine  saw,  and  Katharine  conquered,  as  hereafter. 

Things  went  all  right  as  long  as  Miss  Preston  stayed,  but 
she  was  called  upon  to  take  Mr.  Johnson's  place  during  his 
sickness,  and  her  class  fell  to  me.  (  Would  that  her  mantle 
had  fallen  to  me  also ! )  I  got  along  very  well  until  one  day, 
in  the  grammar  class,  Katharine  asked  me  something,  and  I, 
in  my  old  unthinking  way,  referred  her  to  her  text  book. 

"  Oh,  I  know  it's  there,  and  I  can  read  it  if  I  choose;  but 
what  good  will  it  do,  as  long  as  I  don't  understand  it  ?  " 

Now  that  set  me  to  thinking,  and  I  thought  real  hard. 
Two  or  three  years  ago  I  should  have  blamed  her,  perhaps 
punished  her,  for  impertinence ;  but  I  have  found  out  some 
things  in  that  time ;  and  when  little  things  like  that  occur  I 
try  to  see  if  there  may  not  be  some  underlying  reason  for  it. 
Well,  to  help  matters  along,  the  next  day  brought  me  the 
following  note  from  the  Colonel : 

"  If  Miss  Preston's  Assistant  will  excuse  my  little  girl  from  the  recita 
tion  in  grammar,  I  will  undertake  the  care  of  that  study  myself,  and  will 
see  that  she  is  so  well  drilled  that  she  will  '  pass '  at  the  next  examination. 
Please  let  me  hear  from  you  on  the  subject,  and  believe  me, 
Your  Most  Obedient  Servant, 

M.  S.  CLINTON." 

Before  my  association  with  Miss  Preston,  the  above  would 
have  called  forth  thoughts,  perhaps  remarks,  like  these  : 
"  Perhaps  he  had  better  make  out  my  programs  for  me !     I 


MY  REPLY   TO    THE   COLONEL'S  NOTE.  89 

am  surprised  that  he  doesn't  petition  the  Board  of  Education 
to  let  him  dictate  the  entire  course  of  study  for  our  schools ! 
I  wonder  what  he  sends  his  child  to  public  school  for,  if  he 
means  to  reserve  the  right  to  elect  what  she  shall  or  shall 
not  study.  Does  he  suppose  I  can  have  all  the  parents 
using  their  discretion,  or  their  want  of  it,  in  the  education 
of  my  pupils  ?  If  he  wants  to  teach  her  grammar,  he  may 
teach  her  that  and  everything  else  along  with  it." 

But  now,  things  are  so  different ;  I  can  see  why  a  teacher 
should  not  monopolize  all  the  interest  in  a  child's  studies, 
and  how  it  is  that  some  parents  feel  deprived  of  parental 
privileges  by  the  educational  straight  jackets  to  which  their 
children  are  subjected.  So  after  some  meditation  on  the 
subject,  I  penned  the  following  reply: 

"MR.  M.  S.  CLINTON, 

My  Dear  Sir: —  Much  as  I  should  be  pleased  to  comply  with  so  reason- 
able a  request,  I  cannot  yet  see  my  way  clear  to  do  so.  The  course  of 
study  for  each  grade  has  been  planned  by  the  Superintendent,  with  the 
concurrence  of  the  Board  ;  and  until  the  rules  are  abrogated  or  modified, 
the  teachers  have  no  discretion  in  the  matter,  and  cannot  choose  but  obey. 
Most  Respectfully, 

Miss  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT." 

There  I  was,  well  entrenched  behind  my  breastwork,  the 
Board  and  Superintendent ;  which  breastwork  he  proceed- 
ed to  destroy  at  once  by  appealing  in  person  to  the  said  B. 
and  S. 

"  Why  will  you,"  said  he,  "  insist  upon  wasting  so  much 
precious  time  on  mere  technicalities  that  are  neither  useful 
nor  comprehensible  to  the  average  child  ?  By  doing  so,  you 
use  up  half  a  dozen  of  the  best  years  of  the  child's  life, 
and  give  him  a  smattering  of  several  things  and  a  dislike,  if 
not  a  positive  aversion,  to  those  really  desirable,  and  deprive 


90  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

him  of  the  opportunity  to  learn  things  that  he  must  meet  in 
after  life,  prepared  or  unprepared.  You've  no  moral  right  to 
doit." 

The  idea  of  there  being  a  moral  side  to  grammar !  Well, 
I  took  my  trouble  to  Miss  Preston,  and  asked  her  if  we 
could  not  discuss  it  at  our  next  meeting. 

"Certainly;  we  will  do  so.  Questions  like  this  are  coming 
up  every  day,  and  we  must  think  of  them.  Colonel  Clinton 
is  more"  than  half  right  —  partly  wrong  —  as  such  radical 
people  are  apt  to  be." 

And  that  was  the  beginning  of  our  revolution.  Some  of 
the  teachers  opened  their  eyes  with  astonishment  when  the 
subject  of  the  day  was  announced,  and  not  a  few  suggested 
that  it  was  a  foeman  hardly  worthy  of  their  steel ;  but  these 
same  objectors  were  among  the  first  to  fall  in  the  conflict. 

Miss  Bates  began : 

"  I  like  the  method  I  learned  by.  I  am  used  to  it  and  I 
have  never  learned  any  other.  I  am  perfectly  at  home  in  it 
and  should  lose  myself  in  trying  to  teach  a  new  one  that  I 
was  not  familiar  with ;  "  and  she  settled  back  into  her  seat. 

Miss  Ingersoll  whispered  to  me  :  "  I  wonder  if  the  system 
she  is  so  '  familiar  with '  advocates  the  use  of  prepositions 
at  the  end  of  sentences  ?  " 

Now  as  Miss  Bates  must  have  learned  grammar  thirty  or 
forty  years  since,  I  thought,  myself,  that  perhaps  some  little 
advance  had  been  made  in  the  method  of  teaching  it.  But 
Mr.  Brown  interrupted  my  reflections  with  : 

'  Well,  I  suppose  grammar  and  the  best  methods  of  teach- 
ing it  have  made  some  progress  since  I  studied  it,  for  'The 
world  does  move '  in  educational  as  well  as  in  other  senses, 
and  I  am  looking  for  results  that  will  help  me  choose  from 
among  the  many  methods  in  vogue." 


OBJECTIONS.  9I 

"As  for  me,"  said  Mr.  Lowell,  "I  do  not  know  which  I 
most  dread,  grammar  or  compositions.  I  got  a  great  deal 
of  light  on  the  latter  subject  at  one  of  our  first  meetings  on 
the  new  plan,  and  it  helped  me  wonderfully.  If  grammar 
can  be  reduced  to  the  same  simple  thing,  I  shall  be  grateful 
to  whoever  will  show  me  how  to  render  pleasant  the  disa- 
greeable, and  useful  the  apparently  useless.  As  it  is,  my 
pupils  not  only  dislike  it,  but  they  see  positive  reasons  why 
they  ought  not  to  be  compelled  to  study  it." 

"Exactly  my  experience,"  said  Miss  Wood.  "To  their 
'  I  don't  see  the  use  of  it,'  I  generally  put  in,  '  You  will,  per- 
haps, when  you  are  older ; '  but  when  I  said  that  to  Mary 
Towner  the  other  day,  she  said  that  her  father  often  said  that 
reading  the  best  authors  gave  any  one  a  better  knowledge  of 
the  queen's  English  than  the  mere  study  of  grammar  could 
ever  do;  and  I  had  nothing  to  reply,  for  I  felt  its  truth." 

Mr.  Johnson  sighed.  "  How  much  remains  for  us  to  do  !  " 
he  said  despondently. 

" Perhaps  we  shall  gain  time  by"  undoing"  said  Miss 
Preston.  "  This  is  one  of  the  things  I  have  wanted  to  have 
discussed  in  council  for  a  long  time.  It  has  troubled  me 
that  the  course  of  study  mapped  out  for  us  to  follow  ignores 
grammar  until  after  the  child  has  been  several  years  in 
school,  and  then  the  indiscriminate  stuffing  of  rules,  defini- 
tions and  conjugations  begins.  '  Fall  term,  Kerfs  Grammar 
to  page  95;  winter  term,  ditto  to  page  125;  spring  term,  to 
page  150,  and  review  the  year's  work.'  The  next  year  it  is 
the  same,  only  more  so ;  and  the  process  is  continued  ad 
libitum,  ad  infinitum,  ad  nauseam,  until  I  don't  wonder  that 
teachers,  pupils,  and  parents  cry  for  mercy." 

"Is  there  no  'balm  in  Gilead'?"  queried  Miss  Smith. 


92  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

"  Certainly  there  is  a  cure,"  answered  Miss  Preston.  "  I 
believe  there's  no  physical  disease  without  its  remedy,  and 
that  there's  no  question  of  educational  importance  without 
its  answer;  but  both  remedy  and  answer  require  diligence) 
labor,  and  patience,  in  the  finding." 

I  believe  I  am  getting  beyond  my  limits,  and  so  will  defer 
the  suggestions  offered  and  conclusions  at  which  we  arrived, 
until  niy  next;  remaining, 

Yours  Truly, 

Miss  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 


TEACHING  BY  EXAMPLE.  93 


No.  XVIII. 

GRAMMAR.     (  Continued. ) 

"  1  teach  grammar  largely  by  using  it  —  as,  if  I  were  to 
teach  walking  I  would  set  the  class  to  walking.  Much  of 
our  teaching,  perhaps  including  grammar,  is  theoretical,  and 
in  ordinary  conversation  and  school  work  we  do  not  make 
use  of  the  principles  we  have  taught,"  said  Miss  Preston. 

"Will  you  illustrate  your  meaning?"  inquired  Mr.  Johnson. 

"  Just  this  will  do  it :  in  our  grammar  classes  we  teach 
the  declension  of  the  personal  pronouns,  giving  the  first 
person  singular  the  formal  'me'  in  the  objective  —  and  yet 
many  of  us  almost  invariably  say :  *  It  is  for  you  and  I ' — 
merely  because  we  do  not  think.  It  isn't  because  we  do 
not  know;  but  having  learned  grammar  theoretically  we 
neglect  its  practice." 

"  How  do  you  avoid  this  trouble,  Miss  Preston  ?  I  have 
heard  that  your  schools  were  almost  models  of  careful 
speech,"  said  Miss  Wood. 

"  Thank  you.  I  fully  believe  in  the  Scriptural  injunction 
to  '  Watch '  in  this  line,  at  least.  Nowhere  do  we  so  often 
betray  ourselves  as  by  our  speech,  and  as  teachers  we  should 
be  exemplars  in  this  as  in  other  things." 

"That  is  so  —  but  I  want  the  prescription  for  the  *  Balm 
in  Gilead '  or  the  balm  itself,"  said  Miss  Wood. 

"To  be  brief,  then,"  responded  Miss  Preston,  "  I  bid  every 


94 


PRESTON  PAPERS. 


one  watch,  and  begin  the  work  myself.  I  inspect  all  the  writ- 
ten work  with  that  in  view,  and  look  out  for  oral  lapses,  ask- 
ing each  pupil  to  do  the  same.  Each  one  keeps  a  note  book 
in  which  he  records  any  error  of  speech  which  he  hears;  and 
on  a  certain  day  in  the  week  we  have  a  general  exercise 
in  grammar.  All  participate ;  books  are  laid  aside,  and 
from  three  to  half  a  dozen  pupils  are  selected  to  write  at 
the  blackboard ;  those  at  their  seats  take  turns  in  reading 
from  their  note  books  whatever  they  have  accumulated,  and 
these  sentences  are  put  upon  the  board  by  those  who  have 
been  selected  to  write.  When  that  is  all  done  as  many 
readers  are  chosen  as  there  have  been  copyists,  and  as  each 
phrase  or  sentence  is  read  I  call  upon  some  one  to  point  out 
the  error,  some  one  else  ( at  times  I  call  for  a  '  concert ' 
answer  )  to  correct  it  and  tell  why  it  was  wrong,  giving  the 
rule  that  covers  the  case." 

"Now  that  strikes  me  favorably,  very,"  said  Mr.  Johnson 
reflectively,  "  although  I've  never  heard  of  grammar  being 
taught  in  that  way.  But  you  say -'Giving  the  rule  that 
covers  the  case.'  That  implies  a  previous  learning  of  tech- 
nical rules,  does  it  not  ?  " 

"  Yes.  As  often  as  my  school  can  digest  a  short  lesson  in 
grammar  I  give  them  one,  always  teaching  objectively  where 
possible  —  and  afterwards  reducing  the  matter  to  writing. 
Then  I  give  several  days  to  the  elucidation  and  elaboration 
of  the  principle  just  taught.  We  get  illustrations  daily,  and 
from  everywhere ;  and  we  so  make  practical  what  we  learn 
—  and  only  the  practical  in  grammar  seems  worth  while, 
when  there  is  so  much  to  learn  that  is  absolutely  necessary 
to  our  best  development." 

"  But,  Miss  Preston,  do  you  never  use  a  book  in  your 
classes  ?  "  queried  Miss  Wells. 


WA  YS  AND  MEANS.  95 

"'Oh,  yes,  sometimes,  but  not  for  an  every-day  diet  as  it 
were,"  and  she  laughed.  "  Where  standard  authors  differ  in 
methods,  principle,  or  definition,  I  present  the  different 
views  and  the  reasons  given  ;  and  at  times  I  quote  author- 
ities to  substantiate  my  own  statement.  My  pupils  keep 
note  books  in  which  they  enter  the  main  part  of  each  les- 
son ;  and  each  one  owns  a  text  book,  to  be  used  for  refer- 
ence or  for  a  set  lesson  whenever  necessary." 

"  I  should  think  it  would  take  an  ordinary  life  time  to  get 
ready  to  teach  grammar  in  this  way,"  said  Miss  Smith. 

"  Some  longer,  perhaps,  than  in  the  ordinary  way,"  said 
Miss  Preston,  "  but  /'/  pays,  in  that  it  saves  the  child  from 
the  almost  universal  dread  of  studying  grammar,  and  from 
the  uselessness  of  much  of  it,  besides  saving  time  for  other 
things,  from  what  is  usually  given  to  that  study." 

"We  will  begin  the  September  Term  in  the  study  of 
grammar  under  Miss  Preston's  direction,"  said  Mr.  John- 
son hopefully,  "  and  I  believe  that  it  will  result  in  good  in 
more  directions  than  those  mentioned.  Meanwhile,  we  will 
ponder  on  these  things  and  study  ways  and  means;"  and  we 
disbanded  with  a  feeling  of  gladness  that  this  "bugbear"  of 
the  common  school  has  at  last  been  chained. 

Before  closing  I  will  illustrate  Miss  Preston's  method  by 
giving  two  or  three  examples  taken  from  the  blackboard  in 
my  own  room,  as  they  were  written  and  corrected  in  our 
to-day's  exercise. 

"  This  is  the  sunniest  side  of  the  street." 

TEACHER:     "John,  what  is  wrong  about  this?  " 

JOHN  :     "Why,  the  word  '  sunniest '  is  not  right." 

TEACHER:     "Correct  it,  please,  and  tell  why  it  is  wrong." 

JOHN  :     "  Sunnier  should  have  been  used,  as  that  is  the  comparative 


96  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

form  for  the  word  sunny ;  and  the  superlative  form  'sunniest'  must  not 
be  used  unless  there  are  more  than  two  things  to  be  compared." 

TEACHER  :  "  Yes,  and  a  street  has  only  two  sides.  Mary  Fields,  you 
may  read  and  correct  the  next  sentence." 

MARY:  "The  sentence  reads:  'The  candy  is  for  you  and  I.'  I 
think  it  should  be  for  you  and  me,'  but  can't  tell  why." 

TEACHER  :  "  I  will  call  for  volunteer  information."  (  Dozens  of  hands 
are  raised  to  signify  their  owner's  knowledge  on  the  point,  one  of  whom 
is  chosen  to  speak.) 

CHARLES  :  "  Why,  the  case  is  wrong.  The  nominative  form  has  been 
used,  when  it  should  be  objective  after  the  preposition  for." 

TEACHER  :     "  Can  you  give  the  rule  ?  " 

CHARLES:  "Yes,  ma'am.  We  had  that  rule  last  week.  'A  noun  or 
pronoun  is  in  the  objective  case  when  it  is  used  as  the  object  of  a  verb  or 
preposition.' " 

TEACHER  :     "  Very  good.     Now  do  you  understand  it,  Mary  ?  " 

MARY  :  "  Not  quite.  I  do  not  see  how  he  knew  whether  '  I '  was 
nominative  or  objective." 

TEACHER  :  "  Mary,  cam  you  decline  a  personal  pronoun  which  is  in 
the  first  person,  singular  number  ?  " 

MARY  :  "  No,  ma'am,  I  am  sure  I  can  not.  I  do  not  believe  I  ever 
knew." 

TEACHER :t  "Charles,  give  it  please.  Mary  has  come  among  us  so 
recently  that  she  has  not  learned  that  yet." 

CHARLES  :     "  Nominative  /,  possessive  my  or  mine,  objective  me" 

TEACHER  :     "  Now  do  you  see,  Mary  ?  " 

MARY  :  "Yes,  ma'am.  I  felt  quite  sure  It  ought  to  be  objective — but 
I  could  not  tell  how  he  knew  which  was  objective." 

TEACHER  :  "  Very  good.  Now  we  will  take  the  next  one.  Lily,  you 
may  read  it." 

LILY  :    "  He  don't  do  so." 

TEACHER  :    "  Can  you  correct  it  ?  " 

LILY:     "I  think  so.     Should  it  not  be:  'He  does  n't  do  «o'?* 

TEACHER  :     "  Yes ;  but  tell  us  why,  please." 

LILY  :  "  Don't  is  an  allowable  contraction  for  do  not,  and  we  should 
say  does  not,  if  we  said  it  in  full." 


EXAMPLES. 


97 


TEACHER  :     "  Give  us  the  rule  for  that  if  you  can,  please." 

LlLY :     "  Verbs  must  agree  with  their  subjects  in  person  and  number." 

These  are  samples,  merely,  of  the  method,  which  you 
must  see  in  use  to  get  an  idea  of  its  scope  and  thorough- 
ness. Hoping  that  you  may,  I  remain 

Yours,  Cordially, 

Miss  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 


PRESTON  PAPERS. 


No.  XIX. 

WHISPERING. 

OLDTOWN,  N.  Y.,  May  22,  188-. 
MR. ,  State  Supt.,  etc. 

My  Dear  Sir:  —  We  were  somewhat  startled,  at  our  last 
meeting,  to  hear  Mr.  Wheeler  plead  somewhat  vehemently 
for  a  symposium  on  "Whispering  —  the  Evil  and  its  Cure." 

"  I  am  sure,"  he  said,  "  that  if  I  don't  get  and  keep  it  out 
of  my  school,  untold  and  almost  unqualified  bad  discipline 
will  result.  It  is  the  one  thing  against  which  I  feel  com- 
pelled to  wage  a  constant  warfare ;  and  yet,  like  Banquo's 
ghost,  it  will  not '  down '  but  rises  and  confronts  me  daily, 
constantly." 

"I  have  felt  the  same  desperation  regarding  the  same 
evil,"  said  Miss  Wood;  "and  I've  resorted  to  every  device 
that  has  been  brought  to  my  notice  to  break  up  the  perni- 
cious habit,  but  without  any  staying  results." 

"  It  used  to  trouble  me,  at  first,"  said  Miss  Smith,  "but  of 
late  my  interest  has  been  so  centered  in  the  general  work  of 
the  school  that  I've  almost  forgotten  about  the  old  enemy." 

I  saw  Miss  Preston  smile  a  little  quizzically,  and  I  knew 
that  she  had  a  theory  of  her  own  on  the  subject,  which  I 
thought  would  be  brought  to  light  sooner  or  later,  so  waited 
in  patience. 

"  I've  never  been  much  annoyed  by  it  myself,"  said  Mr. 


FAIR  PLAY. 


99 


Stephens.  "  I  supposed  it  was  a  'part  of  the  play  '  to  whis- 
per. In  fact  I  don't  see  how  one  can  well  get  along  without 
it,  if  he's  either  social  or  enthusiastic." 

"I  am  with  you  in  sentiment,  in  part,  at  least,"  said  Miss 
Preston,  "  and  I  have  but  little  faith  in  most  of  the  '  devices ' 
that  put  children  upon  so  unnatural  a  strain  as  to  require 
them  to  desist  entirely  from  using  the  God-given  boon  of 
speech,  under  pains  and  penalties." 

Here  was  a  mess !  For  we  had  been  taught  to  look  upon 
whispering  as  one  of  the  cardinal  sins  of  the  schoolroom, 
and  the  whisperer  as  a  criminal  whom  nothing  could  rescue 
from  an  ignominious  fate. 

"Why,"  said  Miss  Smith,  "do  you  ever  allow  it  in  your 
schools  ?  " 

"Under  certain  restrictions,  yes,"  said  Miss  Preston, 
cheerfully. 

"  Will  you  kindly  name  some  of  the  restrictions  ?  "  asked 
Mr.  Johnson. 

"With  pleasure,"  she  responded  heartily.  "In  the  first 
place  I  ask  only  what  I  judge  to  be  reasonable,  and  am  quite 
sure  to  get  this.  I  say,  early  in  my  acquaintance  with  my 
school  and  its  needs,  'Children,  it  isn't  fair  for  some  of 
you  to  have  or  take  privileges  that  all  may  not  share,  is  it? ' 
And  the  average  boy  is  quite  easily  touched  in  regard  to 
fair  play.  Then  I  try  to  show  how,  by  whispering,  one  may 
disturb  two  or  three  and  have  a  bad  influence  upon  many 
more.  I  also  provide  times  when  all  may  whisper  at  once" 
"  Why  ?  " 

"  Well,  there  's  often  a  reason  for  the  whisper.  A  child 
may  have  been  absent  when  the  lesson  was  announced,  and 
not  know  where  to  study ;  or  tardy  when  something  of  iin- 


100  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

portance  occurred,  and,  childlike,  he'll  want  to  know  about 
it.  Through  misfortune,  carelessness,  or  accident,  he  may 
be  without  the  books  or  materials  needed  for  his  lessons, 
which  can  not  be  learned  until  these  are  procured ;  and  I 
prefer  to  have  the  necessary  whispering  all  done  at  one  time." 

"  How  often  do  you  give  them  this  opportunity  ?  "  asked 
Mr.  Wheeler,  interested. 

"  Once  during  each  session." 

"  But  does  not  this  consume  a  great  deal  of  time  ?  "  que- 
ried Mr.  Johnson. 

"Oh,  no.  One  of  the  very  first  things  I  try  to  teach  is 
prompt  obedience;  and  as  the  children  know  what  the  bell 
signifies,  and  obey  it  very  promptly,  five  minutes  is  ample 
for  each  whispering  recess." 

"  I  should  think  it  would  almost  save  tha't  and  more,  in 
the  long  run,"  said  Miss  Miller. 

"  It  does,"  replied  Miss  Preston.  "  I  take  trre  same  time  to 
answer  general  questions  that  must  be  asked  some  time,  and 
that  arise,  for  reasons  similar  to  those  that  almost  necessitate 
whispering." 

"Then  you  do  not  permit  questions  to  be  asked  during 
recitation  and  study  hours  ?  "  suggested  Mr.  Brown. 

"  Certainly  not.  Besides  teaching  the  very  bad  habit  of 
interrupting  —  which  is  likely  to  be  detrimental  to  their 
manners  in  social  life — (and  I  must  soon  give  you  a  synopsis 
of  our  talk  on  "  Manners,"  it  was  so  full  of  good  things)  it 
does  break  up  the  line  of  study  among  the  listeners.  Con- 
secutive thinking  is  the  only  kind  of  thinking  that  is  really 
valuable;  and  I  am  aiming  to  teach  this,  which  cau'l  well  be 
done  in  a  room  that  is  always  giving  out  sound." 

"  True,"  said  Mr.  Johnson ;  "  and  while  you've  demon- 


WHISPERING  CONTROLLED.  IO1 

strated  a  show  of  necessity  for  some  whispering,  you  have 
shown  that  it  may  be  managed  so  as  not  to  be  the  unmiti- 
gated evil  that  we  have  generally  considered  it  " 

"  I  have  usually  found  that  nearly  all  evil  is  more  or  less 
'mitigated*  by  the  germ  of  good  which  it  may  contain," 
assented  Miss  Preston;  "and  by  teaching  children  to  respect 
the  rights  of  others  at  the  same  time  that  they  guard  their 
own,  we  have  made  a  long  stride  toward  doing  away  with 
whispering.  'A  time  and  a  place  for  everything '  is  another 
principle  which,  thoroughly  taught,  will  develop  the  thought 
that  whispering  may  become  a  nuisance  if  done  at  the  wrong 
time  " 

"  Your  reasons  for  a  limited  allowance  are  so  good,  and 
your  plans  for  its  management  so  simple,  that  I  think  I 
shall  try  them  ''  said  Mr  Wheeler,  hopefully.  "Like  some 
other  things,  although  a  bad  master  it  may  be  made  a  good 
servant." 

"  I  have  heard  good  teachers  go  so  far  as  to  say  that  nine 
tenths  of  all  the  mischief  done  or  projected  in  school  arose 
from  this  cause,"  responded  Miss  Preston;  "but  I  think  the 
statement  overdrawn,  the  imaginary  evil  magnified.  Still,  I 
should  want  that,  like  any  thing  having  a  downward  tend- 
ency, to  be  within  my  control.  Even  well  drilled  soldiers 
or  sailors  may  get  so  far  beyond  their  superior's  influence  as 
to  mutiny,  if  not  handled  with  judgment  —  and  I  want  my 
school  children  to  respect  themselves  and  love  Right  enough 
to  work  toward  the  best  interests  of  all,  in  this  as  well  as 
other  matters;  so  I  place  it  in  their  hands,  partly,  and  show 
them  how  much  more  and  better  work  they  can  accomplish 
when  whispering  is  regulated  a  little." 

"  Do  you  permit  other  forms  of  communication  except  at 
stated  intervals  ?  "  asked  Mr.  Johnson. 


102  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

Miss  Preston  laughed.  "  Now  I  begin  to  think  you  believe 
I  engrave  my  rules  and  regulations  in  cast  iron;  but  I  don't. 
I  say  simply  this  :  '  Whisper  if  you  must,  but  be  careful. 
Think,  before  you  do  it;  and  let  the  matter  wait  if  you  can. 
If  it  is  something  imperative,  and  it  will  disturb  less  to  write 
a  note,  do  that.  Avoid  either  when  possible.'  ' 

"  It  seems  to  me,"  ventured  Mr.  Whipple,  "  that  that  is  like 
opening  a  sluice  way  for  a  freshet." 

"  Call  it  that,  or  a  safety-valve,  or  what  you  will,  there  is 
no  danger  if  you  don't  let  it  get  the  start  of  you,"  said  Miss 
Preston.  "You  are  engineer,  fireman,  or  what  not,  and 
you  must  manage  the  brakes.  I  only  wanted  to  show  the 
difference  between  rigid,  uncompromising  prohibition,  and 
reasonable  management  of  what  may  be  either  a  help  or  a 
nuisance." 

Her  ideas  on  this  subject  were  new  to  most  of  us,  and  her 
plans  equally  so;  but  we  were  all  "  with  one  consent  "  satis- 
fied that  they  were  at  least  worth  trying.  Hoping  that  some 
others  who  have  "  swamped  "  on  this  question  may  be  helped 
by  our  discussion  of  it,  I  remain, 

Yours  Very  Truly, 

Miss  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 


SOCIAL  CULTURE.  J(>3 


No.  XX. 

MANNERS. 

OLDTOWN,  N.  Y.,  June  26,  188-. 
MR. ,  Supt.  Public  Instruction. 

Respected  Sir :  —  Our  little  knot  of  interested  teachers 
took  up  "  Manners "  during  one  of  our  spring  meetings  ; 
and  we  really  gained  something  for  ourselves  as  well  as  for 
our  schools,  by  its  ventilation.  The  parliament  was  opened 
by  Miss  Sigourney,  who  in  an  undertone,  designed  only  for 
Mr.  Brown's  ears,  said  : 

"I  was  amused  this  morning  on  my  way  here,  to  meet 
Julian  Bristol.  He  doffed  his  soft  felt  hat  to  me,  with  a 
bow  that  would  have  done  credit  to  a  Chesterfield  or  a 
Raleigh." 

Now  Julian  is  one  of  my  big  boys,  of  foreign  descent, 
graceful,  good  natured,  and  one  of  Miss  Preston's  ardent 
admirers  —  as  all  her  school  children  are  ;  and  at  her  sug- 
gestion I  have  been  giving  my  department  little  lessons, 
hints,  and  talks,  on  social  culture;  and  I  have  been  care- 
fully noting  its  effect  in  the  manners  of  my  pupils,  in  school 
and  on  the  street;  and  Miss  Sigourney's  tone,  more  than 
her  words,  nettled  me  a  little,  and  although  not  addressed 
personally,  I  spurred  up  with  : 

"Is  it  unusual  for  gentlemen  to  raise  their  hats  to  you, 
Miss  Sigourney  ? " 


104  PRESTON  PAPERS, 

Now  it  was  ill-bred,  and  I  ought  to  have  possessed  my 
soul  in  patience.  Miss  Sigourney,  however,  good-naturedly 
ignored  my  implied  sarcasm,  and  -laughed  a  little,  saying, 
gently  for  her : 

"  Julian  is  only  sixteen ;  and  our  incipient  gentlemen,  of 
such  tender  years,  are  not  usually  masters  of  such  captivat- 
ing manners  as  to  make  it  seem  like  an  every-day  occur- 
rence to  me." 

"  I  am  sure  there  should  be  nothing  unusual  in  such  a  dis- 
play of  courtesy  as  to  make  it  a  target  for  remarks  of  any 
sort,"  said  Mr.  Johnson,  a  little  warmly.  "  I  have  n't  noticed 
that  our  boys  and  girls  are  below  the  average  in  politeness." 

"  And  yet,"  said  Mr.  Hopkins,  "it  was  only  yesterday  that 
my  landlady  complained  of  the  '  rabble '  as  she  termed  the 
boys  ( boys  who  call  themselves  young  gentlemen,  too,  and 
many  of  them  come  from  families  of  good  social  position  ) 
who  came  'tumbling'  pell-mell  out  of  the  High  School  build- 
ing, just  as  she  was  passing.  Some  really  ran  against  her, 
and  nearly  all  were  so  intent  upon  running  that  they  were  as 
oblivious  of  her  presence  on  the  pavement  as  they  were  of 
her  right  to  it.  She  was  quite  disgusted,  and  spoke  with 
some  vehemence  of  a  'system'  that  makes  scholars  at  the 
expense  of  gentlemen." 

"  Now  I  think  she's  hasty  in  condemning  the  system, 
faulty  though  it  may  be,"  said  Miss  Preston,  on  the  defen- 
sive at  once.  "  To  be  sure  the  conduct  was  rude,  inexcus- 
able, may  be ;  but  Mrs.  Storrs  never  had  any  children  of  her 
own,  and  her  childhood  is  so  far  in  the  background  that  she 
has  perhaps  forgotten  her  own  impulsive  youth  —  if  it  was 
impulsive ;  and  if  was  n't  she  could  n't  well  understand  such 
a  phase  of  boy-nature." 


AWKWARDNESS  OF   YOUTH.  105 

"That's  the  key  note  to  much  of  our  trouble  of  erery 
description,"  sighed  Mr.  Johnson.  "  We  dont  understand 
ourselves  nor  others,  and  we  loqk  at  a  thing  from  only  one 
side.  Now  suppose  we  lay  aside  our  plans  for  to-day's 
work,  and  talk  about  '  Civility  :  How  it  may  be  taught  and 
inculcated  in  our  schoolrooms.'  " 

Personally  I  was  very  glad  of  this  suggestion,  for  when  I 
began  to  look  with  my  new  eyes  upon  the  work  before  me 
I  could  see  so  much  uncultivated  "  good  timber  "  before  me 
that  the  magnitude  of  the  work  nearly  overwhelmed  me. 
"Watch,"  Miss  Preston  had  said  to  me.  ''You  will  see  that 
nine  out  of  ten  do  not  know  how  to  get  out  of  a  room  prop- 
erly when  there  are  others  in  it ;  how  to  terminate  a  call  or 
visit  gracefully  and  pleasantly  ;  how  to  acknowledge  a  favor} 
nor  how  to  make  amends  for  a  blunder."  And  I  had 
watched,  and  had  found  these  things  and  more  —  things 
that  I  wonder  I  had  passed  without  observing  for  so  many 
years.  It  is  just  the  difference  between  machine  work  and 
soul  work  everywhere. 

"  Well,"  said  Miss  Sigourney,  "  I  did  not  know  I  was  lead- 
ing up  to  such  a  profound  discussion ;  but  on  the  whole  I 
can  not  regret  it  if  it  opens  my  eyes  as  to  any  good  way  to 
treat  a  matter  that  has  only  troubled  me  a  short  time." 

Mr.  Whipple  was  in  the  chair  that  day,  and  he  said  : 
"  Perhaps  we  shall  get  at  the  merits  of  the  subject  more 
quickly  if  we  concede  the  great  need  of  work  in  this  field, 
and  confine  our  first  inquiries  as  to  the  best  ways  of  doing 
the  work.  Miss  Ingersoll,  where  would  you  begin  ?  " 

"On  the  'woman'  side  of  the  question,  naturally,"  she 
replied  with  a  laugh.  "  I  would  teach  deference  to  the  sex, 
from  the  youngest  boy  up." 


to<5  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

"  Good,"  said  Mr.  Whipple.  "  But  that  would  only  touch 
a  part  of  creation." 

"  A  very  large  part,  though,"  said  Miss  Ingersoll ;  "  and 
the  boy  who  is  polite  to  his  mother  and  sisters  will  hardly  be 
rude  to  the  rest  of  the  family." 

"True,"  said  Mr.  Whipple,  "and  yet  I  think  we  should 
begin  on  a  broader  basis.  Let  us  hear  from  the  gentlemen 
of  the  Association.  Mr.  Lowell,  where  would  you  place  the 
fundamental  principles  of  good  breeding  ? " 

"  I  think,"  said  Professor  Lowell,  slowly,  "  that  if  we  place 
selfishness  at  the  base  of  rudeness,  we  shall  find  that  court- 
esy rests  upon  its  opposite  trait." 

"  That  is  good,  too,  as  far  as  it  goes,"  said  Mr.  Johnson, 
"but  some  people  who  are  really  unselfish  at  heart  are  not 
models  of  manners." 

"  That  would  suggest  '  tact '  as  an  essential  element  of 
courtesy,"  said  Mr.  Wheeler,  a  little  doubtfully. 

"Yes;  and  it  is  a  good  plank,"  said  Mr.  Whipple  ;  "yet  I 
hardly  think  we  have  gotten  at  the  heart  of  the  matter  yet. 
Let  us  hear  from  the  fair  sex,"  and  he  looked  appealingly 
at  Miss  Preston. 

"I  would  give  every  child  the  Golden  Rule  as  an  infallible 
general  guide,"  she  responded,  unhesitatingly  ;  "  the  thought 
'  Would  I  like  to  have  such  and  such  things  said  and  done 
to  me,  or  in  my  presence,"  will  often  prompt  to  an  act  of 
civility,  or  restrain  the  performance  of  an  impolite  one. 
But  all  children  and  most  young  people  as  well  as  some 
older  ones  need  specific,  definite  instruction  as  to  how  and 
what  to  do  under  certain  every  day  circumstances." 

"  You  are  surely  right,"  volunteered  Miss  Smith.  *4  Only 
last  night  Luella  Hubbard  offended  my  sense  of  propriety 


COURTESY  AS  CAPITAL.  107 

by  returning  a  borrowed  book  without  so  much  as  a  '  Thank 
you,'  when  I  knew  that  she  had  really  derived  a  great  deal 
of  pleasure  from  it,  for  I  had  heard  her  speaking  of  it  in  a 
very  animated  way,  to  a  group  of  girls  and  boys,  about  ten 
minutes  before,  when  I  first  came  into  the  room." 

"Precisely  so,"  said  Miss  Preston  ;  "and  while  we  hardly 
want  to  use  the  argumentum  ad  hominetn,  we  can  make  such 
a  circumstance  as  that  the  text  for  a  general  lesson  to  the 
school,  and  with  good  effect." 

"Yes,"  observed  Mr.  Whipple,  "it  is  without  difficulty 
that  I  recall  my  own  spasmodic  efforts  to  do  the  agreeable  to 
a  little  blonde  of  sixteen,  while  I  was  yet  in  the  transition 
period  and  frock  coats,"  and  he  laughed  at  the  recollection. 

That  laugh  did  us  all  good,  and  it  gave  us  a  sort  of 
fraternal  feeling  that  was  eminently  good  for  the  topic  under 
consideration. 

"  And  if  those  efforts  had  been  well  directed,  instead  of 
'  spasmodic,'  I  dare  say  you  would  have  been  successful," 
laughed  Miss  Sigourney,  a  little  mischievously.  "  Now  I 
think  Julian  Bristol  has  made  a  good  start  in  the  world." 

"  And  so  he  has,"  said  Mr.  Whipple,  with  energy.  "  When 
he  goes  out  to  hunt  up  a  place  to  work,  if  he  knows  what  to 
do  with  his  hands,  when  to  take  off  his  hat,  how  to  speak 
when  necessary  and  when  not  to,  and  dozens  of  other  things 
that  have  a  commercial  value,  he  has  a  much  better  chance 
to  get  the  place  he  wants  than  if  he  has  the  uncultivated 
manners  of  the  average  boy." 

"  I  had  n't  thought  of  these  things  before.  It  is  strange," 
said  Mr.  Johnson,  seriously;  "but  I  believe  that  we  ought 
not  to  neglect  this  part  of  any  child's  education." 

"  Nor   ought   we,"   said    Miss    Preston.     "  Manners   and 


io8  PRESfON  PAPERS. 

morals  are  really  as  essential  as  geography  and  grammar. 
But  we  can  not  teach,  in  these  things,  farther  than  we  go  by 
example.  We  can  not  consistently  exact  politeness  if  we 
do  not  use  it.  If  we  teach  our  girls  and  boys  to  salute  us 
with  '  Good  Morning '  when  they  come  in,  and  '  Good  after- 
noon '  when  they  go  out,  it  must  be  as  much  by  example  as 
by  precept." 

These  are  but  a  few  of  the  suggestions  thrown  out ;  but  I 
have  always  noted  in  Miss  Preston's  association  with  her 
pupils  that  she  observes  even  the  least  of  these  "small, 
sweet  courtesies,"  prefacing  every  request,  however  insig- 
nificant, with  "  Please,"  receiving  every  favor  with  "  Thank 
you,"  "  I'm  obliged  to  you,"  or  something  equally  courteous 
—  never  saying  "Thanks,"  as  is  a  prevalent  custom,  denom- 
inating it  as  "decidedly  curt "  and  " next  to  nothing."  And 
they  are  influenced  by  her  manners ;  we  can  all  see  that,  and 
many  have  spoken  of  it  to 

Yours  Truly, 

Miss  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 


A  CONTRAST.  109 


No.  XXI. 

DRESS. 

OLDTOWN,  N.  Y.,  Sept.  13,  188-. 
MR. ,  State  Supt. 

My  Dear  Sir :  —  The  subject  of  "  Dress  "  seemed  to 
follow  so  naturally  that  of  "  Manners,"  that  we  entered 
upon  its  consideration  informally  and  without  a  previous 
announcement. 

Miss  Sigourney  presided;  and  when  I  tell  you  that  she 
is  as  remarkable  for  her  lack  of  concern  in  her  personal 
appearance  as  she  is  for  her  good  nature  —  which  is  almost 
traditional  —  you  will  say: 

"  The  two  too  often  accompany  each  other." 

To-day  she  had  on  a  dress  which  was  considerably  soiled, 
a  none-too-clean  collar,  and  her  hair  was  in  a  state  !  This, 
too,  when  she  was  to  preside  at  a  teachers'  meeting!  !  I 
was  sorry  for  her  as  soon  as  I  saw  the  "  tone  "  the  meeting 
was  likely  to  assume,  for  I  felt  sure  she  would  have  her 
sensitive  nature  wounded;  but,  would  you  believe  it?  she 
remained  —  or  seemed  —  perfectly  oblivious  of  her  toilet 
and  its  imperfections.  Miss  Whitney  sat  near,  and  a  more 
perfect  contrast  can  not  be  imagined.  Older,  by  some  years, 
than  Miss  Sigourney,  every  last  little  speck  of  dust  brushed 
from  her  garments,  with  spotless  linen,  a  dress  that  fitted  as 
though  she  were  "  run  "  into  it,  hair  so  smooth  and  glossy 


1IO  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

that  you  could  almost  see  yourself  in  it,  you  would  have 
felt  almost  instinctively  that  she  would  almost  parse  her 
sentences  before  giving  them  utterance,  and  that  she  would 
never  move  in  unseemly  haste.  She  is  a  fairly  good  teacher, 
cold,  bvft  moderately  successful  notwithstanding.  But  I 
must  stop  descriptions  if  I  recapitulate  with  any  degree  of 
fullness. 

Mr  Brown  began  by  some  light  remark  about  the  aesthetic 
tendencies  of  the  education  of  the  day. 

"  Now  I  think  that  is  to  be  encouraged,"  observed  Mr. 
Johnson.  "  I  have  only  been  thinking  of  it  at  all  of  late  ; 
but  I  believe,  with  Miss  Preston,  that  the  impressions  of 
early  childhood  are  more  potent  for  good  or  evil  than  we 
are  generally  aware;  and  that  their  influence  is  almost  incal- 
culable. By  our  own  appearance,  even,  we  may  foster  a 
taste  that  will  become  vitiated ;  or  we  may  sow  seeds  that 
will  develop  into  a  really  artistic  sense." 

"  I  believe  you,"  echoed  Miss  Sigourney,  oblivious  that  she 
was  condemning  herself  by  assenting  to  the  popular  idea. 

"  Why,  Mr.  Johnson,  do  you  really  suppose  that  the  dress 
we  wear,  or  the  condition  of  our  hair,  teeth,  or  nails,  have 
any  bearing,  direct  or  indirect,  upon  our  pupils  ?  "  and  Miss 
Wells  looked  incredulous  as  she  asked  it. 

"  Allow  me  to  answer,  please,  Mr.  Johnson,"  interrupted 
Professor  Lowell,  his  face  aglow.  "Among  my  earliest  recol- 
lections are  those  of  an  old  man  whose  memory  I  revere,  but 
of  whose  personal  appearance  I  can  not,  even  now,  think 
without  a  feeling  of  disgust.  Good,  he  undoubtedly  was; 
that  he  was  actually  repulsive  in  his  toilet  is  no  less  true ; 
hair  unkempt,  teeth  that  were  equally  guilty  of  a  brush  and 
of  any  dental  skill,  nails  that  were  in  a  constant  condition 


A   PINK  DRESS.  HI 

of  crape,  boots  which  never  seemed  to  come  into  any  close 
relations  with  brush  or  polish,  and  other  garments  on  which 
the  dust  of  ages  would  seem  to  have  settled  as  if  they'd 
found  a  sure  abiding  place." 

We  did  laugh  at  the  pen  picture,  a  little,  but  Professor 
Lowell  went  on : 

"  He  had  many  fine  instincts,  many  delicate,  refined  ideas, 
incongruous  as  they  seem.  But  I  did  not  discover  this  so 
early  in  my  acquaintance  as  I  should  if  the  evidence  had 
not  been  so  strongly  against  him." 

"  Precisely  so,"  said  Mr.  Johnson;  "and  this  just  corrobo- 
rates what  I  said  at  first.  But  I  would  like  to  hear  some  of 
the  lady  teachers  speak  on  this  subject." 

"  I  remember  one  thing,  in  the  early  days  of  my  teaching," 
said  Miss  Preston,  "  that  made  quite  an  impression  on  me. 
One  of  my  little  girls  came  up  to  me,  one  afternoon,  and 
said  as  she  laid  her  hand  caressingly  upon  my  arm,  '  Miss 
Preston,  if  we'll  be  real  good  this  week  will  you  wear  that 
lovely  pink  dress  Friday  afternoon  that  you  had  on  at  home 
the  other  day  ? '  Without  giving  the  matter  a  second 
thought  I  said  'Why  yes;  of  course  I  will,'  and  dismissed 
the  subject  from  my  mind.  Friday  morning  came,  and  with 
it  came  a  reminder  from  Lily:  '  Don't  forget  your  promise, 
Miss  Preston.'  And  I  didn't,  but  wore  the  dress  that  had 
been  designed  specially  for  home  wear,  simply  to  please  the 
child  who  asked  me  to." 

"  Did  it  have  any  visible  effect  ?  "  interrupted  Miss  Wells, 
interested. 

"  I  was  just  coming  to  that,  as  it's  the  best  part  of  the 
experience,"  Miss  Preston  answered.  "As  I  came  up  the 
walk  I  heard  a  group  of  small  children  discussing  their 


II2  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

teachers,  and  being  behind  them,  I  soon  heard  my  name; 
and  they  were  using  it  as  a  sort  of  symbol  for  beauty,  purity, 
truth,  goodness  and  all  the  cardinal  virtues  combined.  I 
lagged  behind,  and  pondered.  All  the  afternoon  I  observed 
that  things  moved  most  easily.  A  word  was  more  than 
sufficient,  a  look  amply  so;  and  it  was  due  to  the  influence 
of  the  pink  dress." 

"  Are  you  sure  it  was  that  ? "  queried  Mr.  Bishop. 

"I  am.  Circumstances  developed  this  afterwards,  in  a 
way  that  would  have  dissolved  any  lingering  doubts  if  they 
had  existed  in  my  mi»d." 

"  I  can  readily  believe  that,"  said  Mr.  Johnson.  "  I  have 
recently  made  observations  which  convince  me  that  the 
more  tastefully  a  person  dresses,  the  more  attractive  one  is, 
the  greater  his  influence  everywhere,  and  correspondingly 
greater  his  commercial  value." 

"  What  would  you  suggest  for  good,  every  day  material, 
Miss  Preston  ?  "  queried  Miss  Miller. 

"  Of  all  things  I  would  say  avoid  goods  with  soft,  wooly 
surfaces.  They  catch  dust,  chalk,  and  fuzz,  in  the  school- 
room; and  thistles,  buns,  and  'corners'  outside.  Serges, 
alpacas,  and  similar  goods  for  winter;  cambrics,  percales, 
etc.,  for  summer." 

"  And  what  colors  ?  "  asked  Miss  Wood. 

"Greys,  browns,  olives,  dark  greens,  blues,  maroons;  any- 
thing, in  fact,  but  black.  A  dull  or  neutral  tint,  for  the  main 
dress  is  always  '  good  form ; '  and  this  may  be  garnished  by 
a  bright  ribbon,  a  bunch  of  flowers,  or  set  trimming.  Then 
I  jwould  have  one  or  more  bright  dresses  for  special  occa- 
sions, as  we  have  condiments  with  our  staple  food." 

"  Mr.  Johnson  can  you  suggest  a  toilet  for  the  male  per- 
suasion ?  "  queried  Mr.  Wheeler. 


THE  LITTLE   FOXES.  113 

"  Oh,  I  think  they  can  all  draw  inferences  from  this  talk, 
without  going  into  details.  But,"  and  he  spoke  earnestly, 
"we  must  all  remember  that  the  little  foxes  spoil  the  vines." 

We  separated  soon  after  this,  but  each  went  home  think- 
ing of  the  silent  influence  of  the  seemingly  unimportant 
factor  in  our  make-up,  Dress.  Why  the  very  idea  that  good 
taste  in  dressing  has  a  moral  aspect  and  a  commercial  value 
was  new  to  many  of  us;  and  yet  it  is  reasonable.  That  it  is 
potent  in  giving  first  impressions  concerning  us  is  none  the 
less  true,  and  it  is  the  first  impressions  that  tell  Where  is 
the  end  of  its  power  ? 

I  remain, 

Very  Cordially  Yours, 

Miss  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 


1 14 


PRESTON  PAPERS. 


No.  XXII. 
PENMANSHIP. 

OLDTOWN,  N.  Y.,  October  29,  188-. 
MR. ,  Supt.,  etc. 

Dear  Sir :  —  The  question  of  Penmanship,  in  its  various 
phases,  has  been  agitating  us  for  some  weeks.  Allan  Eddy's 
mother  broached  the  subject  at  one  of  the  sewing  societies 
with  which  our  little  city  is  blessed ;  and  behold !  every 
mother  present  was  full  of  pent  up  feeling  on  the  subject. 

"Al  can  hardly  write  his  name  legibly,"  said  the  little 
woman,  snapping  her  teeth  together  as  she  bit  off  her 
thread.  Had  her  eyes  not  twinkled  a  little  bit  you  might 
have  thought  her  more  out  of  patience  than  she  really  was. 

"Neither  can  Will,"  chimed  in  Mrs.  Cramer;  "and  it 
seems  to  me  as  though  a  boy  of  twelve  years  ought  to  be 
able  to  do  himself  and  his  teacher  credit  by  his  writing." 

"  My  stars !  Wayne  writes  as  if  ink  were  the  cheapest 
commodity  in  the  world  and  he  had  an  unlimited  supply  of 
it,  and  was  under  bond  to  use  it  all  within  a  given  time  and 
on  a  given  space,"  laughed  Mrs.  Gallup. 

"/don't  think  it  is  any  laughing  matter,"  said.  Mrs. 
Hoard.  "  Harry  actually  writes  more  indistinctly  now  than 
he  did  when  he  entered  the  Junior  Grade." 

And  so  they  chatted,  witn  no  word  of  excuse  or  pallia- 
tion, nothing  but  fault  rinding  and  criticism  of  the  system 


RAPIDITY.  1 15 

that  develops  such  poor  writers  from  what,  in  some  instances 
at  least,  gave  promise  of  being  such  good  material. 

At  last,  Mrs.  Ripley  spoke :  "  Frank  is  doing  very  nicely. 
I  believe  that  I  have  never  seen  any  better  penmanship  than 
his  gives  promise  of  being.  There  is  nothing  showy  about 
it ;  but  it  is  neat,  legible,  and  rapid." 

"  Rapid.  Yes,  I  can  easily  believe  that  it  is  rapid,"  said 
Mrs.  Breese.  "Agatha  complains  to  me  nearly  every  day 
that  she  '  misses '  in  half  of  her  lessons  because  they  are  dic- 
tated and  she  cannot  '  keep  up.'  " 

"  Fred  does  not  seem  to  have  any  trouble  on  that  score," 
said  Mrs.  Tyler,  quietly.  "I  heard  him  telling  Ella  Wil- 
coxen  the  other  day  that  at  their  recent  examination  in 
spelling  and  penmanship  Miss  Preston  gave  them  a  hundred 
words,  timed  them,  and  from  the  moment  of  her  pronounc- 
ing the  first  word  until  the  last  paper  was  signed,  folded  and 
labeled,  it  was  just  thirty-seven  minutes." 

"Oh,  well,  he  and  Frank  Ripley  are  both  in  the  other 
ward  and  are  under  Miss  Preston's  tuition,"  said  Mrs.  Eddy ; 
"  and  she  seems  to  get  at  the  '  how '  to  do  everything  in  her 
line,  with  the  very  best  results.  I  only  wish  my  three  boys 
could  be  in  her  school." 

And  so  the  question  came  to  be  agitated,  until  finally  its 
m'agnitude  made  it  seem  a  "  thing  of  evil "  and  it  came  up 
for  conference  and  debate  at  oiir  next  session.  Without 
parley  or  preliminary,  and  as  though  no  one  else's  method  or 
opinion  were  worth  discussing  at  all,  "  Miss  Preston,"  said 
Mr.  Johnson,  with  a  dash  of  his  old,  imperative' tone,  "come  • 
tell  us  how  you  manage  to  get  so  good  results,  in  so  short  a 
time,  and  with  so  little  trouble." 

"Why,  it  is  so  easy,"  and  she  smiled;    "it  is  simply  to 


Il6,  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

begin  right,  and  to  begin  early  enough,  before  the  muscles 
become  hardened  or  bad  habits  are  formed.  Patience,  then, 
and  care,  coupled  with  constant  vigilance,  make  good  pen- 
men of  even  very  young  girls  and  boys." 

"That  is  good  for  all  except  definiteness,"  said  Mr. 
Brown ;  "  but  will  you  not  add  to  its  value,  by  telling  us 
just  how  and  when  you  begin,  and  how  you  proceed  ?  " 

"  With  great  pleasure.  The  day  a  child  is  old  enough  to 
be  presented  for  admission  into  my  school  room  he  is  none 
too  young  to  use  the  implements  of  war ;  and  he  begins  his 
career  by  holding  his  pencil  properly  while  he  plays  with  his 
slate,  if  he  is  not  more  than  five  or  six  years  old.  He  is 
awkward  at  first,  unless  he  has  had  home  or  kindergarten 
training ;  but  he  can  be  taught  •  When  he  can  '  make 
marks '  with  his  pencil  in  position  I  let  him  now  and  then 
hold  a  pen  and  '  write '  if  he  is  ambitious  to  do  as  he  sees 
the  older  pupils  doing.  A  little  drill  each  day,  of  the 
chubby  hands;  a  guiding  toward  a  definite  object;  some- 
times a  slate  pencil  against  the  hard  surface  of  the  slate, 
sometimes  a  crayon  at  the  blackboard,  then  a  lead  pencil, 
with  now  and  then  a  pen  and  ink,  and  he  becomes  and 
keeps  interested  in  the  variety  of  tools  that  he  has  been 
handling." 

"  But,  Miss  Preston,  do  you  mean  to  say  that  you  let  mere 
babies  use  a  pen  and  ink  in  your  school  ?  We  have  never 
given  it  to  them  until  the  second  year  of  the  Senior  Grade  ;  " 
and  Mr.  Johnson  looked  a  little  aghast  at  the  possibility  of  a 
fatal  experiment. 

"  No,  not '  mere  babies,' "  she  responded  cheerfully.  "  The 
youngest  '  nursery  stock '  has  never  been  turned  over  to  my 
tender  mercies ;  but  as  soon  as  the  children  are  brought 


GOOD  RESULTS.  117 

within  my  jurisdiction  they  are  given  pen  and  ink,  under  my 
(or  some  one  else's)  guardian  care,  at  not-too-frequent 
intervals,  and  they  learn  to  use  them  without  stabbing  them- 
selves with  the  one  or  deluging  themselves  or  their  neighbors 
with  the  other." 

"  Is  it  possible  ?  " 

"  Yes ;  and  by  the  time  they  are  seven  or  eight  years  old 
they  write  quite  legibly ;  and  I  have  had  those  who  did 
credit  to  themselves,  even  as  young  as  that." 

"  Miss  Preston,  I  wish  you  would  begin  at  the  initial  step 
and  tell  us  just  how  you  accomplish  the  desired  result,"  said 
Mr.  Johnson,  with  interest. 

"  It  varies  with  the  patient  and  the  circumstances,"  she 
replied,  smiling.  "  For  instance :  what  I  would  do  with  a 
class  in  the  primary  room,  knowing  that  that  year  or  two 
would  be  all  that  I  would  see  of  them,  and  that  the  subject 
would  be  ignored  for  the  next  two  or  three  years  by  my  suc- 
cessors (  as  it  nearly  always  is  until  the  children  are  in  the 
Junior  Grade )  would  be  entirely  different  from  what  I 
would  do  with  a  more  mature  class,  or  with  a  class  which  I 
expected  to  stay  with  for  two,  three,  or  more,  years." 

"  I  can  readily  see  that  —  but  as  we  have  all  these  con- 
ditions represented  here,  suppose  you  give  us  a  brief  outline 
of  your  work  under  each  of  these  varying  circumstances," 
and  he  looked  appealingly  at  the  one  teacher  on  whom  he 
seems  to  rely  for  advice  and  real  help.  Oh,  it  is  worth 
something  to  know  that  one's  work  can  be  relied  upon  — 
that  it  will  stand  the  tests  of  time  and  result ;  and  this  must 
be  an  inspiration  to  Miss  Preston,  as  I  hope  it  may  come  to 
be  to  Yours  Truly, 

Miss  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 


P&ESTON  PAPERS. 


No.  XXIII 

PENMANSHIP.     (  Continued. ) 

"  Well,  I  will  begin  with  a  supposed  class  of  children  in 
the  Primary  Grade,  who  have  already  learned  to  hold  their 
pencils,  but  who  know  little  of  form.  One  thing  right  here 
—  to  all  classes  I  would  hold  up  as  good  a  copy  as  I  could 
make  while  they  watch." 

"  Why  then,  in  preference  to  doing  it  in  their  absence  ?  " 
queried  Miss  Butler. 

"  Because  it  helps  them  see  how  —  where  to  begin  any 
given  stroke,  how  carried,  and  in  what  way  it  is  finished. 
My  teaching  of  the  subject  will  doubtless  seem  childlike  to 
most  of  you  —  but  I  can  not  teach  children  in  any  other 
way.  I  begin  somewhat  after  this  fashion  —  having  drawn 
some  lines  of  various  sizes  and  shapes,  and  at  various  angles, 
on  the  board : 

Children,  what  have  I  done  ? 

Been  making  marks  —  some  one  will  be  likely  to  venture, 

Yes;  and  we  call  them  lines.     Are  they  all  alike  ?• 

No,  ma'am.  Some  of  'em  tip  ( slant )  and  some  of  'em 
stand  up  straight,  and  some  bend  around. 

Yes,  and  each  kind  has  a  name;  those  that  stand  up  are 
called  straight  lines,  and  those  that  bend  are  called  curves 
or  curved  lines;  and  I  make  more,  asking  them  to  name 
them  as  I  do  so.  Then  from  these  two  kinds  I  develop  the 


CLASSIFICA  TION. 


119 


first  letter  of  simple  form,  the  letter  /  of  the  small  alphabet, 
at  the  same  time  explaining  the  right  curve  and  the  L'fl 
curve  of  penmanship.  Having  assured  myself  that  they  can 
name  its  parts  whenever  seen  and  wherever  found,  I  let 
them  write  while  I  'call  off.'  That  is  usually  enough  for 
one  lesson  for  so  young  a  class,  and  at  the  next  lesson  I 
review  this  and  take  up  a  new  one,  «,  and  combine  the  two 
in  a  word.  I  always  find  great  delight  at  the  idea  of  writing 
words,  so  I  begin  early,  and  give  a  new  one  as  often  as 
possible,  so  that  they  will  not  tire  of  the  work.  I  group  the 
letters,  according  to  their  formation,  and  do  not  attempt  a 
new  principle  or  combination  without  special  preparation  of 
the  lesson  myself,  made  with  particular  reference  to  the 
class  that  is  to  receive  it.  I  teach  from  analysis,  compare 
one  letter  with  another,  different  parts  of  the  same  letter 
with  each  other — and  teach  the  children  to  use  their  eyes, 
and  brains,  as  well  as  their  fingers,  in  writing." 

"  How  do  you  divide  the  small  letters  ?  Into  how  many 
and  what  classes  ?  "  inquired  Mr.  Wheeler. 

"  Into  four  classes :  the  short  letters,  the  stem  letters,  the 
loop  and  the  inverted  loop  letters,"  she  replied. 

"  Do  you  use  copy  books  at  all  ?  "  inquired  Mr.  Johnson. 

"  Never.  The  copy  should  be  made  by  the  living  teacher, 
for  the  reasons  before  given ;  and  it  should  be  produced 
upon  the  child's  mind  so  accurately  that  if  a  wrong  pro- 
portion is  used,  or  an  imperfect  line  —  a  right  curve  for  a 
left,  or  a  sharp  turn  for  a  round  one,  they  will  be  able  to 
remedy  it." 

"  Nor  tracing  books  ?  " 

"Never.  Nothing  but  ordinary  foolscap  paper,  cut  in 
halves  for  convenience,  across.  I  put  a  general  copy  on  the 


,20  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

blackboard,  analyze  it,  get  the  children  to  work,  and  then 
go  among  them  and  examine  their  work  —  finding  the  most 
common  troubles,  and  calling  attention  to  what  I  have  seen 
without  mentioning  any  names,  try  again.  Then  if  I  find 
any  one  perpetuating  the  same  mistakes  I  make  a  personal 
comment  on.  the  work,  in  an  undertone  —  so  as  not  to  injure 
the  child's  desire  to  do  well  —  point  out  the  defects  or  have 
him  do  so  if  possible  —  sometimes  placing  an  imperfect 
word  or  letter  on  the  board  on  purpose  to  get  an  expression 
from  the  children  as  to  its  accuracy  or  defect." 

"  How  about  the  more  advanced  classes?  " 

"  With  those  who  already  write,  even  though  quite  poorly, 
my  first  work  is  to  get  before  them  a  mental  picture  of  what 
is  right;  teach  them  by  analysis,  and  let  each  one  aim  toward 
his  mental  model,  guiding  and  suggesting  where  necessary." 

"  Do  you  write  a  great  deal,  in  your  ordinary  lessons  ? 
Reading,  history,  spelling,  or  language,  for  instance. 

"  O,  yes  ;  a  great  deal.  But  I  never  allow  scribbling. 
Learn  to  write  well  first,  rapidly  afterwards.  I  say  to  the 
children  that  all  can  learn  to  write  beautifully;  that  the  only 
difference  is  the  difference  in  the  amount  and  quality  of 
practice  they  put  upon  it." 

"  Is  it  so,  indeed  ? "  said  Mr.  Johnson.  "  I  had  supposed 
that  some  could  not  learn  to  write  well,  as  some  can  not 
learn  to  read  well." 

"  I  have  never  seen  any  one  who  could  not  learn  to  do 
both,"  replied  Miss  Preston.  "  But  in  the  matter  of  writing 
I  think  perhaps  I  do  give  it  more  attention  than  some,  for  I 
have  found  its  advantages  to  be  so  great;  and  I  encourage 
the  pupils  to  take  great  pains  in  the  formation  of  each  letter, 
even  when  writing  from  dictation.  '  Keep  your  thoughts 
ahead  of  your  pen ' — is  a  help  to  most  of  them." 


THOUGHT  AHEAD   OF  THE  PEN.  121 

"  You  are  at  least  logical  and  successful  in  your  methods, 
Miss  Preston,"  said  Mr.  Johnson,  "  and  I  am  gratified  at  the 
results  of  your  work,  and  grateful  for  your  illustration  of 
your  methods." 

This  was  the  voice  of  us  all  —  and  while  much  more  was 
said  privately  to  little  groups  and  knots  of  interested  teachers 
who  gathered  about  her  when  "meeting  broke  up,"  enough 
has  been  said  to  give  you  an  outline  of  her  ways  of  teaching 
penmanship. 

Hoping  it  may  be  helpful,  I  remain, 

Yours,  in  the  general  cause, 

Miss  PJRESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 


I2a  PRESTON  PAPERS. 


No.  XXIV. 
OVERWORK  IN  SCHOOL. 

OLDTOWN,  N.  Y.,  Dec.  23,  188-. 
MR. ,  Supt.  Public  Instruction. 

My  Dear  Sir : — Coming  together  a  little  early  at  our  lasl 
meeting,  a  few  of  us  found  Mr.  Johnson  and  Miss  Preston 
eagerly  discussing  something  of  evident  importance,  for 
each  was  oblivious  of  all  else. 

Rising  soon  after  our  entrance,  Mr.  Johnson  said : 

"Well,  Miss  Preston,  we  will  have  the  matter  brought 
before  the  '  common  council '  to-day.  I  am  only  sorry  you 
have  not  mentioned  it  before." 

"It  has  troubled  me  somewhat  ever  since  I  have  been 
here,"  she  said,  with  a  shadow  of  hesitation  in  her  voice; 
"  but  as  a  teacher  I  was  not  in  the  best  position  to  remedy 
it  —  besides  being  a  little  uncertain  that  it  might  not  be 
largely  a  matter  of  fancy  at  first ;  but  as  your  assistant  I 
have  had  more  and  better  opportunities  to  study  cause  and 
effect,  and  I  am  convinced  that  both  teachers  and  pupils 
undergo  too  much  strain  during  a  large  part  of  the  year." 

The  meeting  was  now  called  to  order  by  our  Superin- 
tendent, who  presided  that  day,  and  after  the  usual  "open- 
ing ceremonies,"  he  said,  with  some  feeling: 

"  I  have  had  a  matter  laid  before  me  to-day  which  gives 
me  great  surprise  and  real  anxiety.  I  have  never  thought 


OVERWORK. 


123 


much  about  it,  but  believe  that  it  may  be  true  that  the 
number  of  hours  spent  in  school  and  school  work,  daily, 
is  too  great  for  both  teachers  and  students,  and  that  the 
curriculum  should  be  abbreviated,  or  the  period  for  its  pas- 
sage be  prolonged.  I  would  like  to  hear  from  each  of  you 
on  the  subject,  and  freely." 

We  were  a  little  astonished,  to  put  it  mildly,  and  for  a  few 
minutes  no  one  spoke.  Then  Miss  Smith  broke  the  silence, 
by  saying  in  her  peculiar  way: 

"  I'm  glad  somebody  has  begun  the  agitation  of  the  waters, 
for  the  subject  has  been  a  sore  one  to  me  for  some  time. 
Last  year  Mollie  Arnold  had  to  be  kept  out  of  school  a  third 
of  the  year,  because  of  her  headaches;  Nettie  Hurlburt's 
eyes  became  so  bad  that  she  had  to  wear  glasses;  and  Clin- 
ton Brundage  had  to  leave  school  altogether.  This  year  it 
is  no  better;  head  troubles,  eyes,  or  something,  one  right 
after  the  other,  until  I  have  sometimes  been  led  to  wonder 
if  a  common  school  education  is  worth  all  it  costs,  any  way." 

"I  am  sure  it  isn't  in  some  cases,"  said  Miss  Preston,  "  for 
when  a  boy  or  girl  comes  out  of  school  with  impaired  health, 
narrow  chest,  '  stoop '  shoulders,  defective  eyesight,  or  bad 
digestion,  as  the  result  of  overwork,  all  the  'sheepskins'  in 
the  universe  will  not  compensate  for  the  loss." 
'  "  True,"  said  Mr.  Johnson,  "  and  if  the  same  daily  grind 
has  overtaxed  the  teachers  who  should  be  living  examples 
of  physical  culture  as  well  as  mental  training,  the  results  are 
indeed  deplorable,  and  can  not  be  too  heartily  condemned." 

"  What  do  you  propose  doing  ? "  queried  Mr.  Brown. 
Now  he  is  not  one  on  whom  the  duties  of  a  teacher  will 
ever  rest  with  undue  weight.  He  is  very  considerate  of 
himself,  and  is  likely  to  outlive  his  day  and  generation,  at 


I24 


PRESTON  PAPERS. 


least.  He  may  not  be  actually  lazy,  but  he  has  the  quality 
of  inertia  remarkably  well  developed. 

"  We  are  just  thinking  of  that  part  of  the  evil,"  Mr  John- 
son responded,  seriously  and  thoughtfully.  "  If  we  could 
close  school  a  little  earlier  each  day,  and  all  spend  that  time 
out  of  doors  whenever  possible,  and  in  some  active  work 
any, way,  it  might  help." 

"  We  should  have  to  drop  some  of  the  studies  then,"  said 
Miss  Wheeler,  "  for  there's  only  time  enough  now  to  give  each 
branch  a  cursory  sort  of  teaching,  and  that  sort  of  teaching 
doesn't  last." 

"No,"  said  Miss  Preston,  "and  it  is  bad  all  around.  The 
innocent  victims  of  this  overworked  system  get  a  smatter- 
ing of  things  beyond  their  comprehension,  learn  almost 
nothing  thoroughly,  and  get  into  slovenly  habits  of  thought 
and  study  that  incapacitates  them  for  the  real  work  of  life. 
We  attempt  too  much,  and  we  stuff,  cram,  and  overwork 
children  and  teachers,  until  they  come  to  look,  act,  and  feel 
jaded  nine  tenths  of  the  time ;  and  this  condition  is  not 
compatible  with  the  best  mental  effort." 

"  I  hardly  know  what  we  should  leave  off,"  said  Professor 
Lowell,  with  hesitation. 

"  Miss  Preston  has  shown  us  how  we  may  gain  some  time 
in  the  teaching  of  geography,"  said  Mr.  Johnson,  "and  I 
dare  say  she  can  suggest  other  places  where  we  waste  time 
that  might  be  used  to  advantage,"  and  he  looked  at  her 
inquiringly. 

"  I  think,  perhaps,  we  shall  get  at  the  root  of  the  matter 
most  easily  by  ascertaining  what  is  the  object,  grasp,  or 
scope  of  our  curriculum,"  she  suggested.  "  It  embraces 
mathematics  enough  to  turn  out  automatic  book-keepers 


CURRICULUM.  I25 

and  clerks.  It  takes  in  several  languages,  double  that  num- 
ber of  exact  sciences,  several  '  arts  '  and  the  '  three  R's ' — 
besides  other  things  'too  numerous  to  mention,'  as  the 
circus  bills  say.  These  are  all  good,  and  each  may  find  all 
that  he  needs  for  a  practical  life ;  but  our  mistake  is  in  an 
indiscriminate  pouring  the  contents  of  each  of  these  '  vials 
of  wrath '  down  the  throat  of  each,  instead  of  adapting  the 
dose  to  the  sufferer." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ? "  asked  Miss  Howe. 

"Why,  here's  Thomas,  with  a  mother  to  support,  two 
younger  sisters  and  one  brother,  all  waiting  until  he  can  do 
the  work  of  an  accountant  in  Mr.  Slocum's  bank,  where  he 
has  the  promise  of  a  permanent  place  if  he  becomes  a  good 
penman,  quick  at  figures,  and  an  idea  of  commercial  corres- 
pondence. Having  undertaken  to  educate  him,  and  map 
out  his  course  for  him,  we  should  do  so  with  some  reference 
to  his  future  needs ;  but  no,  he  must  go  through  the  regula- 
tion drill  on  vocal  music,  Latin,  and  astronomy,  the  same  as 
though  he  had  plenty  of  time  to  do  it  all,  and  with  no  special 
reason  for  extra  work  in  his  line. 

Again;  Mary, has  no  liking,  no  taste,  and  no  reason  for 
studying  cube  root,  surveyor's  measure,  or  apothecaries' 
weight,  for  her  young  soul  is  all  on  fire  with  the  genius  of 
Art.  She  loves  drawing,  and  has  '  form  '  largely  developed 
in  her  phrenological  make-up,  but  we  keep  her  pegging  away 
at  bank  discount,  equation  of  payments,  algebra  and  other 
things  equally  foreign  to  her  aim.  She  has  a  right  to  choose 
from  the  curriculum,  or  to  have  chosen  for  her,  what  will 
point  toward  her  object.  Helen,  who  means  to  teach,  and 
has  a  fondness  for  language  and  literature,  ought  not  to  be 
compelled  to  tie  herself  down  to  physics  or  metaphysics,  if 
she  must  make  her  living  by  what  she  learns  at  school." 


126  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

"There  is  truth  in  what  you  say,"  observed  Mr.  Wheeler, 
"and  I  have  often  wondered,  if  we  were  called  upon  to 
define  the  object  of  our  work,  what  we  would  say." 

"Several  of  the  best  years  of  life  are  given  up  by  the 
student,"  pursued  Miss  Preston,  "and  he  becomes  fagged 
physically,  and  we  surely  ought  to  look  for  splendid  mental 
attainments,  in  part  compensation  for  what  has  been  lost 
otherwise  ;  but  in  the  majority  of  cases  we  shall  look  in 
vain,  and  at  the  end  of  the  'course,'  instead  of  presenting  to 
the  world  one  who  is  symmetrically  developed  physically, 
mentally,  and  morally,  armed  and  equipped  for  the  battle 
before  him,  we  too  often  give  a  semi-invalid  with  a  mass  of 
indefinite  knowledge  floating  around  somewhere  at  loose 
ends  in  his  brain,  unavailable  because  of  its  vagueness,  and 
often  worthless." 

"  What  can  we  do  ?  "  This  came  somewhat  despondently 
from  Miss  Miller. 

"Weed  the  curriculum.  Shorten  the  school  hours.  Teach 
individuals  instead  of  classes,  wherever  possible.  Give  some 
time  to  physical  culture,  social,  and  moral  training.  Find 
out,  if  possible,  somewhere  near  the  child's  probable  future, 
and  lead  him  up  to  it." 

"  That  would  necessitate  more  overwork  among  the 
teachers  than  the  present  way,  would  it  not  ? "  inquired  Mr. 
Brown. 

"  I  think  not.  By  reason  of  the  shortened  hours  of  labor 
the  teachers  would  be  capable  of  accomplishing  more  in  a 
given  length  of  time  and  yet  would  have  leisure  to  recuper- 
ate from  their  state  of  exhaustion.  As  it  is  now,  by  reason 
of  reports,  examination  papers,  class  books,  records,  etc., 
the  teacher  '  drudges  '  as  much  as  the  overworked  pupil.  I 


LATE  HOURS. 


127 


know,"  she  went  on,  smiling,  "  that  much  of  what  is  com- 
plained of  as  overwork  in  school  is  really  overwork  out  of 
school.  A  boy  or  a  girl  is  up  late  at  night  several  times 
during  the  week,  and  after  a  time  headaches  begin  and 
'overwork'  is  the  cry,  when  it  should  be  'late  hours.'  But 
there  is  a  show  of  reason,  at  least,  in  the  complaints  that  are 
taking  shape  and  being  presented  almost  daily." 

"  Before  we  come  together  again  we  will  see  if  our  idea  can 
not  be  made  useful  in  revising  our  plans,"  said  Mr.  Johnson 
—  and  we  parted  with  some  new  ideas  rolling  over  and  over 
in  our  heads. 

More  anon,  from 

Yours  Truly, 

Miss  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 


128  PRESTON  PAPERS. 


No.  XXV. 

SPELLING. 

OLDTOWN,  N.  Y.,  Jan.  22,  188-. 

MY  DEAR  SUPERINTENDENT  : 

Our  last  familiar  talk  was  on  the  time  worn  and  time 
honored  topic  of  "Spelling,"  and  it  was  really  interesting. 

"I  have  been  having  an  old  fashioned  spelling  school," 
said  Miss  Butler,  with  a  laugh,  as  she  seated  herself. 

"  How  did  you  manage  it  ? "  queried  Miss  Preston,  with 
interest. 

"  Quite  in  the  old  fashioned  way.  I  selected  two  '  cap- 
tains'  who  'chose  sides '  and  spelled  against  each  other." 

"  You  pronounced  the  words  ?  "  inquiringly. 

"  O,  yes.  And  no  one  could  try  but  once,  on  any  word. 
If  he  misses  it  goes  across  to  the  other  side,  the  'fallen 
soldier '  sitting  down  as  soon  as  he  misses,  his  '  opposite ' 
catching  it  if  possible  —  if  not,  he  too  goes  down." 

"  It  gets  to  be  quite  exciting,  does  it  not  ? "  asked  Miss 
Preston. 

"  Yes,  indeed  it  does." 

"  Have  you  ever  spelled  against  your  whole  school  ?  "  she 
inquired  again. 

"  No.     I  never  thought  of  that.     Have  you  ?  " 

"Yes,  many  times.  I  let  some  one  who  can  pronounce 
distinctly,  and  who  does  not  need  the  practice  in  spelling  as 


A  PLA  Y-SPELL. 


129 


much  as  the  others,  pronounce  the  words  and  I  spell  every 
alternate  word." 

"  But,  Miss  Preston,  I  thought  you  did  not  believe  in  oral 
spelling,"  said  Mr.  Whipple. 

"  Nor  do  I,  as  a  rule.  As  we  usually  use  spelling  only 
when  writing,  I  have  the  lessons  written  in  the  every  day 
practice.  But  I  have  found  it  a  good  thing  to  review  quite 
frequently,  and  this  I  often  make  a  sort  of  play-spell  (  no 
pun)  as  Miss  Butler  seems  to  have  been  doing.  It  prevents 
the  sometimes  dread  of  review  day,  and  spurs  to  thorough 
work;  for  in  a  'play'  of  this  sort  every  one's  weakness  in 
orthography  is  made  manifest,  while  in  the  ordinary  lesson 
routine  only  the  child  who  misses  and  myself  are  cognizant 
of  his  faults." 

"  How  is  that  ?  "  queried  Miss  Sigourney. 

"  The  slates  are  passed  to  me  for  examination,"  responded 
Miss  Preston. 

"Will  you  tell  us  how  you  conduct  a  spelling  lesson?" 
asked  Mr.  Wheeler. 

"With  pleasure.  Having  everything  in  readiness,  I  pro- 
nounce 'One '  (to  correspond  with  the  figure  already  on  the 
slates)  and  then  give  a  word  to  go  with  it.  Should  any  one 
fail  to  understand  the  word,  a  hand  is  raised  to  indicate  this, 
when  I  again  pronounce  it,  and  go  to  No.  two.  When  the 
last  word  is  written,  each  writer  signs  his  name  below  his 
work,  dates  it,  and  the  slates  are  gathered  up  in  order  from 
each  aisle,  by  a  '  waiter '  chosen  for  the  week,  and  placed  on 
my  desk  for  my  inspection.  I  then  announce  the  next  lesson 
and  my  pupils  study  that  while  I  look  over  the  lesson  just 
finished,  underscoring  the  misspelled  words  on  each  slate, 
after  which  the  slates  are  again  distributed,  the  'misses' 
9 


I30  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

corrected  by  those  who  have  made  them,  and  that  lesson  is 
considered  done." 

"  Do  you  mark  a  word  '  missed '  if  the  penmanship  is 
illegible  ?  "  inquired  Professor  Lowell. 

"  Always.  And  not  only  that,  but  I  do  so  if  it  is  merely 
ambiguous,  a  u  for  an  «,  an  undotted  /  or  an  uncrossed  i 
being  an  error  that  in  a  legal  paper  might  be  of  importance; 
and  I  aim  to  teach  accuracy  in  even  the  most  trifling  details, 
as  I  believe  it  to  be  one  of  the  most  important  qualifications 
for  any  position  in  life." 

"Good,"  assented  Mr.  Johnson;  "but,  Miss  Preston,  I 
have  heard  that  you  teach  spelling  much  as  you  do  language 
—  with  and  by  means  of  every  other  lesson.  Is  this  true?  " 

"  To  a  certain  extent,  yes.  If  I  assign  a  lesson  in  arith- 
metic, I  want  to  teach  observation  at  the  same  time  I  teach 
mathematics;  and  the  habit  is  a  good  one  to  cultivate.  I  do 
this  so  regularly  that  it  comes  to  be  looked  upon  as  part  of 
the  play,  and  no  lesson  is  considered  fully  learned  if  there's 
any  orthographical  difficulty  unmastered." 

"Do  you  use  a  text  book,  or  'speller,'  at  all?"  asked  Miss 
Smith. 

"  Yes.  I  have  found  Swinton's  '  Word  Book,'  or  something 
similar,  helpful  for  a  set  lesson;  and  then  we  sometimes 
make  our  own  lesson,  I  suggesting  a  topic,  and  the  children 
pronouncing  the  words  connected  with  this  topic  which  they 
do  not  know  how  to  spell.  .  These  words  I  write  on  the 
blackboard  and  leave  until  the  time  for  the  next  recitation, 
then  use  the  copy  which  I  have  had  made  —  instead  of  the 
book  —  and  proceed  as  before." 

"  Do  you  ever  spell  around,  marking  the  words  that  are 
missed,  and  afterwards  announcing  them  ? "  asked  Miss 
Wheeler. 


VARIATIONS.  131 

"  I  never  have.     How  do  you  manage  ?  " 

14  Simply  pronounce  so  many  words  to  each  pupil.  He 
spells  each  one,  only  trying  once,  you  keeping  the  record 
but  not  announcing  the  result  until  the  close  of  the  lesson." 

"I  should  think  it  would  make  a  pleasant  variety." 

44  It  does,  and  it  has  this  recommendation;  no  one  has  any 
advantage  over  the  other.  For  instance:  in  Miss  Butler's 
4  spelling  school,'  if  a  word  comes  up  where  it  must  be  spelled 
in  one  of  two  ways,  and  the  first  speller  misses  it,  the  '  oppo- 
site '  knows  how  it  must  go  and  gains  by  what  the  other  lost." 

"I  see,"  said  Miss  Preston.  "There  are  many  ways  to 
relieve  the  study  of  monotony  and  save  it  from  being  merely 
a  memory  lesson.  And  that  reminds  me.  As  soon  as  a  child 
can  understand  the  simplest  rules  I  have  them  learned,  and 
then  give  them  examples  under  each  rule,  so  that  the  chil- 
dren can  apply  what  they  learn." 

"Spelling  has  always  seemed  like  such  an  arbitrary  thing 
that  I've  never  made  the  most  of  it,  I  think,"  sighed  Miss 
Wood. 

44  It  may  be  invested  with  a  great  deal  of  interest,"  said 
Mr.  Johnson,  "  and  I  think  that  by  the  time  we  have  taught  a 
few  more  years  with  an  inspiration  to  do  our  best  and  make 
the  most  of  our  opportunities  and  material,  we  shall  better 
know  how  to  do  even  so  simple  a  thing  as  to  teach  spelling 
to  the  best  advantage  and  with  a  view  to  the  final  results." 

So  say  we  all,  and  God  speed  the  day  when  more  of  our 
number  awake  to  a  realization  of  what  they,  and  others 
through  them,  are  missing. 

With  best  wishes,  I  remain, 

Yours  Truly, 

Miss  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 


13  J  PXESTON  PAPERS. 


No.  XXVI. 
READING. 

OLDTOWN,  N.  Y.,  February  25,  188-. 
MR. Supt.,  etc. 

Since  our  talk  on  Reading  I  have  been  putting  into  prac- 
tice some  of  the  ideas  I  got  that  day.  I  have  lately  been 
troubled  that  our  public  school  is  training  such  poor  readers, 
and  while  lamenting  the  fact  and  wondering  at  its  probable 
cause  I  have  been  too  busy  to  solve  the  problem. 

Said  Mr.  Johnson  at  the  opening: 

"  I  hope  there  will  be  a  freedom  in  this  discussion,  for 
reading  is  one  of  the  really  essential  things  that  seem  to  be 
in  more  or  less  danger  of  neglect." 

Which  is  somewhat  true ;  for  with  the  advent  of  so  many 
new  ideas  as  to  what  should  be  taught,  our  time  has  been  so 
filled  that  we  have  read  less  in  our  classes  than  we  did 
twenty  years  ago,  when  every  pupil  read  aloud  four  times  a 
day. 

Miss  Wheeler  ventured  the  first  remark : 

"  If  no  one  has  formulated  the  especial  features  of  com- 
plaint, perhaps  we  had  better  inquire  first  as  to  what 
appears  to  be  the  matter." 

"  I  can  tell  of  one  trouble,  at  least,"  said  Professor  Lowell. 
"  The  young  ladies  and  gentlemen  who  come  into  my  classes 
do  not  average  to  read  as  well  as  children  should  at  twelve 


FAULTY  READING. 


'33 


vears  of  age  ;  and  I  know  that  many  of  them  leave  the  High 
School  without  the  ability  to  read,  at  sight,  an  ordinary 
newspaper  or  magazine  article.  Several  days  since  I  was 
invited  down  to  Mrs.  Hanchett's  to  dinner,  and  Lizzie 
picked  up  the  evening  paper  and  read  a  few  items  in  a 
shockingly  bad  way,  and  with  apparently  no  concern  at  her 
awkwardness  with  the  Queen's  English.  Her  mother  and 
her  college  brother  were  painfully  apparent  of  her  short- 
comings, but  she  seemed  to  think  that  she  acquitted  herself 
creditably." 

"  That  is  one  bad  thing  about  it,"  said  Miss  Ingersoll. 
"  The  fault  is  so  prevalent  that  no  one  feels  isolated  because 
of  poor  reading.  Lizzie  reads  as  well  as  Harry,  Emma, 
James,  and  Ellen,  in  the  same  class  ;  and  as  she  seldom 
hears  any  one  else  read  how  should  she  know  that  her  work 
is  below  par  ?" 

"  That  remark  suggests  a  hint  of  one  step  toward  better 
work,"  said  Miss  Preston  "  We  can  each  furnish  a  good 
model  in  this,  as  in  other  things,  and  as  children  are  quick 
to  imitate  and  to  see  and  discriminate,  they  will  be  benefited 
every  time  they  hear  really  good  reading." 

"True,"  said  Mr.  Johnson.  "Cannot  each  of  you  name 
some  special  fault  which  you  have  observed  in  class  or  in- 
dividual, and  then  suggest  a  remedy  for  it  ?" 

"  I  have  noticed,"  said  Miss  Wheeler,  "  that  many  of  my 
.youngest  pupils  drawl  their  words.  They  even  stumble  over 
very  simple  words,  such  as  I  felt  sure  at  first  they  must  be 
familiar  with.  By  experimenting,  however,  I  found  that  this 
was  not  so;  that  the  real  difficulty  lay  just  here :  that  as  soon 
as  a  child  was  familiar  with  the  shape  of  a  word  he  would  not 
drawl  nor  hesitate  in  its  pronunciation  ;  so  I  began  bringing 


134  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

them  into  frequent  contact  with  words.  I  found  that  they  had 
tired  of  their  readers,  and  while  they  were  familiar  with  the 
'  pieces '  and  could  'read '  any  or  each  paragraph  as  a  whole 
—  having  heard  the  thing  daily,  perhaps  —  the  words  were 
as  strangers  to  them  ;  so  I  put  them  to  work  in  a  new  way  : 
reading  backwards.  By  so  doing  they  could  not  tell  when 
they  had  pronounced  one  word,  what  would  come  next, 
until  they  learned  the  next  word." 

"Has  the  result  been  satisfactory?"  asked  Mr.  Johnson. 

"  Very.  They  are  getting  a  somewhat  extended  vocabu- 
lary of  words  which  they  know;  and  wnen  they  know  a  word 
they  can  call  it  by  name  when  they  see  it,  and  that  without 
trouble." 

"  I  have  used  that  plan  myself,"  said  Miss  Preston,  "  and 
with  even  older  boys  and  girls.  Sight-reading  is  not  com- 
mon enough  even  among  our  older  pupils.  But  the  trouble 
which  I  have  observed  in  visiting  the  different  schools  is  of 
an  entirely  different  nature.  I  have  noticed  very  rapid 
reading;  even  passages  of  great  tenderness,  pathos  or  sub- 
limity being  in  about  6-8  time.  I  have  asked  one  or  two 
such  classes  that  have  come  under  my  observation  to  read 
in  concert.  This  gives  a  chance  for  the  very  slow  ones  to 
accelerate  their  speed,  while  those  who  read  too  rapidly  are 
held  in  check  by  the  '  volume  of  voice.' " 

"I  have  found  no  trouble  with  my  classes,"  said  Mr. 
Wheeler,  "  when  reading  from  their  reading  books ;  but  if  I 
asked  any  of  them  to  read  tomorrow's  history,  geometry  or 
botany  lesson,  I  was  always  sure  to  find  them  in  the  quick- 
sand. So  I  have  been  using  newspapers,  magazines,  etc., 
for  extra  supplies ;  and  have  asked  each  to  bring  something 
of  interest  to  read  to  all" 


DIFFICUL  TIES.  1 3  5 

a  That  word  interest  covers  a  multitude  of  help,"  laughed 
Miss  Preston.  "  You  will  never  have  trouble  in  securing 
listeners,  nor  in  teaching  reading,  if  you  can  hold  their 
interest.  The  newspaper  work  is  a  good  idea." 

"I  was  in  a  school  recently,"  said  Mr.  Johnson,  "where 
the  teacher  was  reading  a  story  to  her  school,  and  every 
time  she  came  to  a  word  with  which  anyone  was  not  famil- 
iar, a  hand  was  raised  to  indicate  the  same,  and  they  had 
a  good  time  word-hunting." 

"I  have  done  that  myself,"  said  Miss  Wood.  "Some- 
times, to  vary  the  exercise,  I  have  had  one  of  the  pupils 
read  for  me  when  we  were  having  a  recreation  of  this  sort." 

"I  have  found  one  trouble,"  said  I;  "the  children  drop 
out  little  words  and  do  not  seem  to  realize  it.  They  do  not 
seem  much  concerned  to  get  at  the  sense  of  what  they  read. 
So  I  have  'played  school'  sometimes,  reading  a  paragraph 
as  they  do,  asking  them  to  watch  for  errors  and  call  atten- 
tion to  ,hem." 

"  I  have  had  them  do  that  with  each  other,  to  a  somewhat 
limited  extent,"  said  Miss  Smith,  "  and  for  the  same  pur- 
pose; I  also  sometimes  let  them  read  until  they  make  a 
mistake,  the  first  who  notices  the  mistake  taking  the  next 
turn.  That  serves  to  keep  them  alert,  and  it  holds  their 
interest  at  least  while  it  lasts." 

"  A  good  plan,"  said  Mr.  Johnson  ;  "  and  I  think  I  know 
of  one  good  reason  at  least  for  poor  reading  among  the 
older  pupils  —  want  of  practice.  This  comes  sometimes 
because  none  of  the  household  is  interested  in  developing 
good  readers  sufficiently  to  listen  to  Thomas's  rendition  of 
the  President's  message,  or  to  Mary's  scrabbling  through  a 
report  of  the  latest  concert.  Young  America  is  taught  to 


136  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

be  seen  and  not  heard,  so  Young  America  reads  in  silence 
when  he  should  be  reading  aloud." 

"  Too  true,"  said  Miss  Preston  ;  "  and  what  is  true  of 
pupils  is  true  in  only  a  lesser  degree  of  us.  We  read  aloud 
too  little,  and  we  do  not  often  enough  listen  to  good  read- 
ing. We  grow  careless,  and  our  own  habits  are  reflected  in 
our  pupils  ;  and  if  we  begin  a  reform  we  must  begin  at 
home  and  work  outward." 

"  Activity  of  mind,  a  thought  of  the  author's  meaning,  a 
putting  of  the  child  en  rapport,  if  possible,  with  the  article  to 
be  read,  by  a  few  timely  questions,  a  few  judicious  remarks, 
will  go  far  toward  helping  expression,"  said  Mr.  Johnson. 
"  We  must  teach  them  that  we  cannot  express  what  we  do  not 
truly  feel ;  and  we  can  not  feel  what  we  do  not  understand." 

"That  is  one  thing  about  many  of  the  reading  books  of 
to-day,"  said  Miss  Preston  ;  "  most  of  them  are  down  to  the 
level  of  the  child's  capacity.  A  few  years  ago  this  was  dif- 
ferent ;  and  the  child  who  '  went  through '  a  set  of  the  old 
readers  not  only  tired  of  trying  to  grasp  what  was  away 
beyond  his  comprehension,  but  was  made  ridiculous  by  so 
doing.  Now  science  is  made  attractive,  poems  of  merit  are 
found  expressed  in  a  language  that  even  children  can  com- 
prehend, and  history  tells  marvelous  stories  of  thrilling 
interest,  and  yet  in  words  that  the  juvenile  mind  can  grasp." 

"  My  classes  are  interested  just  now  im  English  history," 
said  Mr.  Brown  ;  "  so  we  have  had  as  many  authors  on  our 
table  as  possible,  and  when  a  fact  of  interest  has  been  ascer- 
tained we  have  read  from  the  different  books,  impromptu  ; 
and  I  can  see,  although  it  is  less  than  a  month  since  we  began, 
that  it  has  been  a  source  of  improvement." 

"  It  must  have  been,"  said  Mr.  Johnson.     "  I  should  like  to 


A   BAD   START.  I37 

hear  more  from  some  of  the  Primary  teachers,  for  I  have  an 
idea  that  some  of  the  bad  habits  start  on  the  lowest  round 
of  the  ladder  and  might  be  held  in  check  there.  But  I  see 
that  it  is  time  to  close,  and  we  shall  have  to  wait  for  another 
session." 

We  were  not  ready  to  stop.  W*j  seldom  are  since  we 
began  to  brim  over  with  our  subjects,  but  I  must  follow  his 
good  example. 

Yours  Truly, 

Miss  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 


138  PRESTON  PAPERS. 


No.  XXVIL 

HOBBIES. 


,  N.  Y.,  March  15,  188-. 
Hon.  --  ,  State  Supt.  Public  Instruction. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :  We  had  a  very  lively  discussion  at  out 
last  meeting,  concerning  our  various  "  Hobbies,"  and  as  I 
may  not  write  again  for  some  months,  I  will  outline  it  in 
brief. 

"  I  think,"  said  Mr.  Johnson,  seriously  and  penitently, 
"  that  I  have  been  unfortunate  in  my  own  hobby  ;  for  I  have 
placed  System  so  at  the  head  of  all  things  that  great  dam- 
age has  been  done  to  many  of  you  who  have  tried  to  work 
after  my  ideal.  I  am  glad  that  the  change  came  when  it 
did,  and  only  regret  that  it  did  not  come  sooner.  In  pre- 
senting System  as  your  goal,  toward  which  I  asked  you  to 
work,  things  that  were  of  more  importance  were  neglected 
if  not  ignored  ;  and  time  was  wasted  in  trying  to  bring  all 
to  one  standard." 

Miss  Wood  said  "  Dignity  seems  to  be  the  hobby  which 
I've  ridden  with  a  high  hand  and  a  tight  rein  until  recently; 
and  yet  somehow  my  dignity  has  n't  preserved  me  from 
attacks  of  various  kinds,  both  among  my  pupils  and  from 
their  parents.  I,  somehow,  set  out  with  the  idea  that  in 
order  to  keep  a  school  well  under  subjection  one  must  be 
very  dignified  in  bearing,  very  impressive  in  manner.  My 


THE  REAL  AND    THE   SHAM. 


'39 


success  as  a  disciplinarian  has  been  far  from  satisfactory  to 
myself,  and  I  know  that  I  have  not  pleased  my  patrons." 

"Possibly  your  key  note  is  wrong,"  suggested  Miss 
Preston.  "  Perhaps  if,  instead  of  keeping  your  school  well 
under  subjection,  you  had  aimed  to  keep  the  pupils  en  rap- 
port with  you,  you  would  have  had  less  trouble.  I  think 
that  my  hobby  "  Getting  down  to  the  Child,"  has  led  me 
into  errors  of  a  mental  nature,  at  least.  I  may  have  made 
things  too  easy  for  the  child,  in  my  anxiety  not  to  shoot  too 
far  beyond  his  powers.  I  think  there  is  real  danger  in  this, 
and  that  the  mistaken  kindness  of  the  teacher  or  mother 
who  does  too  much  for  a  child  will  rebound,  leaving  the 
child  more  nearly  helpless  than  he  would  have  been  with  a 
more  vigorous  method  or  treatment." 

Miss  Sigourney  was  the  next  to  confess,  and  remarked : 
"  I  believe  that  '  Discipline  '  has  been  my  hobby,  and  that 
I've  been  a  hard  rider.  I  can  see,  in  my  later  work,  that 
the  discipine  that  needs  very  much  muscular  force  is  not 
good  discipline,  and  most  of  mine  has  been  accomplished 
by  means  of  the  rod.  The  word  and  the  idea  have  been 
ever  present,  preventing  many  things  that  would  have  con- 
duced to  the  general  good  ;  and  yet  because  some  things 
might  interfere  with  discipline,  or  might  interrupt  the  dis- 
cipline or  break  it  up,  I  have  said  '  No,'  when  '  Yes '  would 
have  been  better,  and  when  I  might  thereby  have  shortened 
the  distance  between  my  pupils  and  myself." 

"Just  my  idea,"  resumed  Miss  Wood.  "I  have  come  to 
believe,  at  least  in  my  own  case,  that  the  dignity  that  needs 
bolstering  is  not  real  dignity,  but  a  snam  ;  and  it  may  be  so 
in  regard  to  discipline." 

"  It  is,"  said  Mr.  Johnson.     "  The  discipline  that  needs 


1 40  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

to  be  talked  about  in  order  that  it  shall  not  remain  in  ob- 
scurity is  not  a  power." 

"  I  am  not  sure,"  said  Miss  Wells,  "  but  that  I  have  been 
carried  away  by  '  Appearances.'  I  have  wanted  my  school 
to  compare  well  with  others  ;  and  I've  made  it  a  sort  of  end 
toward  which  I've  worked  with  a  good  deal  of  zeal,  if  not 
with  wisdom.  Too  much  has  been  sacrificed  for  mere  show 
—  but  I've  quit  my  hobby,  'forever  and  for  aye.' 

"Good!"  said  Miss  Preston.  "Would  that  more  of  us 
had  the  courage  of  our  convictions !" 

"Oh,  we're  getting  it,"  said  Mr.  Lowell;  "but  it  takes  a 
while  to  eradicate  the  habits  and  thoughts  of  years,  and 
break  ground  in  entirely  new  soil.  I  believe  that  Laziness 
has  been  my  great  drawback.  I  have  been  too  prone  to  do 
what  would  be  the  least  trouble  now,  regardless  of  the 
future  and  of  consequences.  Laziness  is  an  easy  hobby, 
but  is  likely  to  throw  one  at  the  last."  and  he  laughed  a  little 
uneasily. 

"Your  experience  is  not  unusual,"  said  Mr.  Johnson. 
"  Few  of  us  realize  until  too  late  that  our  every  day  work 
has  such  a  relation  to  the  future  that  we  ought  to  put  in  our 
best  building  material  at  any  cost." 

I  knew  that  my  turn  was  at  hand,  so  said,  "  I  have  been 
riding  '  Order '  for  my  hobby,  and  so  gallant  has  been  my 
steed  that  for  many  years  I,  like  others,  mistook  the  sham 
for  the  real.  It  is  not  so  very  many  years  since  I  actually 
believed  that  order,  good  order,  consisted  in  having  my 
pupils  work  in  automatic  precision,  speak  in  set  forms,  vary- 
ing not  a  hair's  breadth  in  recitation,  even  if  done  without 
spirit  or  understanding  either.  I  know  better  now,  and  I 
look  back  with  horror  upon  the  machine  work  of  my  earlier 


CONVICTIONS, 


141 


days.  I  don't  know  how  I  got  into  the  groove,  nor  can  I 
see  how  I  stayed  in  it  so  placidly  for  many  years ;  but  this 
I  do  know — that  my  present  teaching  is  a  real  pleasure,  and 
before  it  was  real  drudgery." 

"It  could  hardly  be  otherwise,"  said  Miss  Preston;  "and 
if  it  was  drudgery  to  you,  what  must  it  have  been  to  those 
committed  to  your  care  ?" 

"  O,  I  can  see  it  all  now,"  I  cried;  "  the  only  thing  that 
puzzles  me  at  all  is,  that  I  was  blind  for  so  long." 

"  Selfishness  seems  to  have  been  my  hobby,"  said  Miss 
Miller.  "  I  have  looked  at  everything  from  my  own  stand- 
point, and  have  considered,  in  all  my  school  work,  just  how 
far  such  and  such  a  thing  would  affect  me  —  not  what  would 
be  its  results  upon  my  school,  but  where  I  might  count 
upon  its  influence.  I  think  it  has  tended  to  make  me  indif- 
ferent toward  the  best  interests  of  my  school,  and  I  regret 
the  loss  of  years  in  which  I  might  have  done  better." 

The  silence  of  conviction  settled  upon  us,  for  who  could 
cast  the  first  stone  at  Miss  Miller  ?  Had  we  not  all  been 
carried  by  this  hobby  for  years  ? 

"  I  think  that  *  Independence '  has  been  the  hobby  on 
which  I've  ambled  at  a  slow  going  trot,"  said  Miss  Smith. 
"  I've  cared  too  little  for  law  and  order,  too  much  for  re- 
sults ;  and  have  ridden  rough  shod  right  over  the  wishes  of 
parents,  superintendents  and  others,  pitting  my  own  judg- 
ment against  that  of  every  one  who  differed  from  me,  as  to 
methods,  manner,  principles  or  what  not.  I  mean  to  defer 
a  little  more  to  the  experience,  observation  and  judgment 
of  others,"  and  she  sat  down  as  vigorously  as  she  had 
spoken. 

Miss  Smith  has  less  to  blame  herself  for  than  most  of  us 


142 


PRESTON  PAPERS. 


have,  for  although  she's  quite  likely  to  believe  that  her  way 
is  right  she  has  a  great  deal  of  common  sense,  and  that  has 
helped  her  to  see  through  many  of  the  false  educational 
notions  of  the  day,  and  it  has  kept  her  out  of  much  of  the 
mummery  that  has  been  the  bane  of  the  rest  of  us. 

Mr.  Wheeler  was  the  next  speaker.  "  I  believe  that  the 
*  Practical '  hobby  has  been  mine.  Now  I  think  that  the 
practical  side  of  things  should  be  given  consideration,  a 
great  deal  of  it,  but  not  to  the  exclusion  of  all  else." 

"That  is  a  common  fault,"  said  Mr.  Johnson.  "We  have 
all  been  more  or  less  warped  by  it  I  think,  looking  upon 
things  of  mere  beauty  as  entirely  without  a  mission,  and 
upon  studies  which  had  no  practical  issue  as  being  useless, 
when  really  either  of  these  things  may  be  of  the  greatest 
importance  in  modifying  our  natures  and  in  making  them 
symmetrical," — all  of  which  is  true,  and  is  noAv  so  conceded 
by  the  authorities  in  the  educational  world. 

''Well,"  said  Miss  Bates,  "I  think  I  have  clung  tenaci- 
ously to  '  Custom  '  for  my  hobby.  I  have  been  too  averse 
to  change,  even  when  a  change  would  have  been  best. 
What  I  have  done  and  as  I  have  done  for  years,  has  been 
my  hobby;  and  I've  been  reluctant  even  to  acknowledge 
progress." 

"  Just  contrary  to  my  experience,"  said  Miss  Ingersoll. 
"  I  believe  that  when  I  look  over  my  list  of  delinquences, 
I  shall  find  that  I've  given  whip  and  rein  to  '  Change,'  wel- 
coming anything  that  gave  indications  of  being  something 
new,  like  the  Athenians  of  old.  Let  any  one  suggest  a  new 
method  in  teaching  or  governing  and  I  tried  it,  regardless 
of  the  probable  differences  of  situation,  time,  and  necessi- 
ties. Only  give  me  something  new  to  work  with,  and  I've 


SUGGESTIONS.  ,43 

been  happy  in  the  work  — i  even  forgetful  of  the  real  aim  of 
the  work." 

"  That  is  common  too,"  said  Miss  Preston.  "  Only  let 
one  teacher  in  a  given  situation,  and  with  a  given  class, 
4  make  a  hit'  in  presenting  a  subject  and  instantly  the  won- 
derful results  have  been  written  up,  commented  on,  and 
exaggerated,  possibly,  until  everybody  is  on  fire  to  try  the 
same  thing  in  the  same  way  without  reference  to  the  great 
differences  in  teachers,  pupils  and  times.  We  so  lose  our 
individuality  and  injure  our  work." 

"  Lecturing  seems  to  have  been  the  mule  that  has  carried 
me,"  said  Mr.  Whipple ;  "  and  I  have  been  so  in  love  with 
the  sound  of  my  own  voice,  apparently,  that  no  opportunity 
to  listen  to  its  music  has  been  lost.  I  think  a  few  words 
'  fitly  spoken '  would  have  been  of  more  weight  than  all  my 
harangues." 

Again  we  were  stteuced,  fui  few  of  us  but  felt  that  Mr. 
Whipple's  confession  would  do  for  each  of  us. 

M  I  fear  that  my  hobby  has  been  worse  than  any  yet  men- 
tioned," said  Miss  Sherwood,  with  a  scarlet  spot  burning 
upon  each  cheek.  "  I  think  now,  in  retrospect,  that  '  Men- 
ace' has  entered  into  my  school  work  at  every  opening.  My 
school  has  been  under  the  shadow  of  a  threat  of  some  kind 
from  September  until  June  every  year — but  it  never  shall 
be  again.  A  threat  is  at  best  a  weak  weapon,  and  I  hope 
never  to  be  guilty  of  its  use." 

"Perhaps  we  had  better  all  revise  our  decalogues,"  said 
Mr.  Johnson;  "and  instead  of 'Thou  shalt  not,'  substitute 
'  Let  us  try  not.'  There  is  a  principle  within  us  that  can  be 
reached  by  an  appeal  to  our  better  selves;  but  its  opposite 
romes  to  the  top  whenever  a  thing  is  absolutely  forbidden, 


144 


PRESTON  PAPERS. 


especially  if  there's  a  penalty  attached.  And  right  here  1 
would  suggest  that  we  study  Nature  more.  Let  us  study 
ourselves  and  our  pupils,  finding  out  the  weaknesses  and 
defects  of  the  one,  while  we  look  up  the  necessities  of  the 
other.  Let  us  profit  not  only  by  our  own  experience,  but 
by  that  of  our  associates.  Let  us  look  below  the  surface  of 
our  teaching  and  see  how  much  of  it  and  what  part  is  like-ly 
to  take  root;  and  if  what  we  have  done  is  not  the  very  best 
that  might  have  been,  let  us  not  be  too  proud  to  begin  again 
in  a  new  way,  with  a  higher  ideal  before  us,  a  more  definite 
plan  as  to  reaching  it." 

This  seemed  to  be  the  Amen  point;  and  here  I  leave  it, 
only  expressing  the  wish  that  it  may  be  of  as  great  use  to 
others  as  it  has  to 

Yours  Truly, 

Miss  PRESTON 'e  ASSISTANT. 


HOW  TO  TEACH  PHYSIOLOGY.  145 


No.  XXVIII. 

PHYSIOLOGY. 

OLDTOWN,  N.  Y.,  October  21,  189-. 

State  Supt.  of  Public  Instruction. 

My  Dear  Sir:  —  It  has  been  a  general  shaking-up  week 
here,  on  the  question  of  physiology,  and  the  way  that  it 
should  be  taught,  as  well  as  some  of  the  ways  that  are  to 
be  avoided. 

We  had  a  fairly  good  series  of  text  books  on  the  subject, 
and  we  did  average  work  with  them,  I  rather  think;  and 
yet  none  of  it  all  seemed  quite  "practical"  enough  to  suit 
my  principal.  I  never  saw  a  woman,  nor  a  man,  either, 
for  that  matter,  who  had  the  practical  side  of  things  down 
to  so  fine  a  point  as  she  has! 

We  had  "been  discussing  the  feasibility  of  having  a 
special  teacher  come  into  the  force,  for  the  purpose  of 
giving  lessons  on  "How  to  Live"  (and  you  may  be  sure 
that  that  was  one  of  Miss  Preston's  ideas!)  showing  the 
teachers  how  to  teach  the  lessons  in  a  way  that  would 
appeal  more  strongly  to  child  nature;  for  it  is  a  fact  that 
but  very  few  of  our  children  "take  to"  the  study  of 
physiology,  even  after  they  are  pretty  well  grown;  while 
many  of  the  very  younger  ones  actually  have  a  distaste  for 
it  from  the  outset.  So  that  even  the  most  content  and 
sanguine  of  us  all  would  hardly  dare  to  say  that  the  study 
had  been  a  success;  and  some  of  us  might  easily  have  been 


146  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

persuaded  to  go  a  step  farther,  and  that  without  damage 
to  our  consciences,  and  to  say  that  the  entire  thing  had 
been  farcical  from  the  start,  and  done  (but  this  is  sub-rosa) 
in  the  interest  of  the  publisher  who  gave  us  the  first  set  of 
books,  all  around,  so  that  we  would  not  only  indorse  it  but 
send  in  orders  for  more,  just  as  soon  as  new  classes  were 
formed. 

No  one  knows  (?)  who  did  the  log-rolling,  but  it  was 
done;  and  for  at  least  four  or  five  years  before  the  spirit  of 
the  new  work  had  been  felt  by  us,  we  had  had  attempts  at 
smoothing  out  the  work  in  physiology,  and  trying  to  make 
it  count,  in  some  way.  But  we  had  not  succeeded.  The 
meeting  at  which  the  topic  came  up  had  been  looked  for- 
ward to  for  another  purpose;  but  it  did  not  come  amiss 
when  some  one  proposed  that  we  turn  it  into  an  experience 
meeting  on  the  subject  of  physiology. 

"I  should  like  to  know  how  you  are  all  getting  along, 
myself,"  said  Mr.  Johnson. 

"Well,  I  can  tell  you  that  so  far  as  my  school  is  con- 
cerned it  gives  me  more  trouble  than  all  the  other  work 
combined,  in  all  the  grades.  I  would  give  half  of  my 
salary  to  have  it  taken  out  of  the  curriculum,"  said  Miss 
Wood. 

"What  is  the  nature  of  your  trouble?"  inquired  Mr. 
Johnson,  in  that  specially  bland  tone  by  which  we  have 
learned  to  look  for  words  that  mean  something  and  that 
weigh  about  a  thousand  pounds  each. 

"I  don't  know  that  I  could  render  a  bill  of  particulars; 
but  if  there  is  anything  that  could  be  said  and  done  against 
it  which  has  not,  then  it  is  so  much  to  the  credit  side  of 
the  account,"  was  the  somewhat  indefinite  reply. 


COMMON  SENSE  IN  TEACHING.  14? 

"That  is  rather  vague  to  attempt  a  remedy  for,"  said 
Mr.  Johnson. 

"Oh,  I  can  be  more  specific,  if  that  is  all,"  responded 
Miss  Wood,  hopefully.  "Two  years  ago  Mary  Bryan's 
mother  called  to  me  to  'Come  over'  as  I  was  passing  their 
house,  on  the  other  side  of  the  street.  'An '  f what's  that  ye 
do  be  tachin'  Mary  now?'  she  asked,  not  unkindly,  but 
with  remonstrance  in  every  syllable.  'An  sure  I  don' 
wahnt  her  to  be  larnin'  about  her  in'ards  an'  ahl  that, 
while  she's  only  a  slip  of  a  gurrul.  Byes  is  different.' 

'Oh,  but  we  are  only  teaching  the  girls  what  they  need 
to  know,'  I  said.  I'm  not  just  sure  that  even  that  was 
strictly  true;  but  it  was  the  only  thing  I  could  think  of,  to 
say,  that  had  a  foundation  of  truth  and  yet  might  mollify  her. 

'Ah,'  she  replied,  'I  don't  know  as  't'll  help  Molly  anny 
to  do  the  washin'  'n'  ir'nin'  'f  she's  allus  thinkin'  an'  thinkin' 
'f  her  bones  an'  muscles,  an'  her  brain  cells  an'  in'ards. 
I  guess  the  soap  an'  stairch,  an'  so  on'  '11  be  more  help  than 
them  things.' 

Now  there  's  at  least  a  show  of  common  sense  behind  all 
this.  Teachers  have  no  monopoly  on  real  good  pedagogy; 
and  it  may  be  that  m  trying  to  give  the  children  a  good 
all-around  education,  we  are  actually  omitting  what  will  be 
of  the  most  real  benefit,  in  many  individual  cases;  and  I 
question  if  we  have  any  right  to  do  this!" 

This  was  a  new  phase  of  Miss  Wood's  character,  for  she 
has  not  been  wont  to  linger  any  too  long  on  the  side  of  the 
child,  in  any  question;  but  none  of  us  are  at  quite  the 
same  level  that  we  were  when  Miss  Preston  came  among 
us.  She  was  the  next  speaker. 

"I  wish  that  we  might  have  some  one  who  is  well  qualified 


148  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

for  special  work,  who  could  go  into  all  the  schools,  and 
give  live,  practical  lessons  on  the  best  things  to  do,  to  eat, 
to  wear,  and  so  on,  and  so  give  the  children  a  really  good 
start  in  the  things  that  they  will  actually  need  to  know. 
Of  course  it  is  all  right  for  them  to  know  the  technical 
name  and  the  location  of  every  bone  and  muscle  in  the 
body;  but  it  seems  to  me  more  essential  that  they  should 
know  just  how  the  bones  are  built  up  or  injured;  what 
foods  promote  their  healthy  growth;  how  the  muscles 
are  to  be  trained  by  judicious  exercise,  and  how  they 
a^re  injured  by  idleness;  how  to  avoid,  as  well  as  how 
to  cure,  some  of  the  common  troubles  of  the  body,  like 
earache,  headache,  colds,  etc.;  and  how  to  care  for  the 
eyes,  teeth,  skin,  hands,  feet,  hair,  and  other  parts  of 
the  body." 

That  started  the  hubbub,  but  it  was  increased  when  Mr. 
Johnson  said:  "Miss  Preston,  I  know  that  you  have  done 
good  work  in  this  line.  Will  you  not  tell  us  how?" 

"That  is  not  so  difficult  as  it  may  be  to  get  the  consent 
of  the  Board  to  add  the  salary  of  the  special  teacher,"  she 
responded,  with  a  smile,  and  then  added:  "I  suppose  that 
I  began  like  most  teachers,  with  a  certain  prescribed 
author,  of  whose  pages  my  class  was  to  learn  so  much  to- 
day; a  step  farther  to-morrow,  and  so  through  the  week, 
with  what  reinforcement  could  be  had  at  the  end  of  the 
week  by  an  ordinary  review.  But  it  was  as  dry  and  lifeless 
as  most  text-book  work  is. 

That  set  me  to  thinking,  and  I  tried  at  first  by  getting 
the  children  interested  in  what  had  given  them  pain.  For 
instance,  if  a  child  had  a  toothache,  he  was  better  prepared 
to  see  the  practical  side  of  any  study  that  would  teach  him 


METHODS  OF  TEACHING  PHYSIOLOGY.  149 

how  to  so  care  for  the  teeth  that  he  would  avoid  the 
ache.  •  It  was  always  easy  to  lead  an  entire  class,  through 
one  child's  interest,  in  any  such  thing.  If  it  were  teeth 
that  came  up  first  as  a  subject,  we  made  a  very  thorough 
study  of  their  formation,  shape,  composition,  etc.,  and  we 
showed  how  acids  would  act  upon  the  enamel;  how  the 
biting  of  threads,  cracking  of  nuts,  or  holding  of  pins  in 
the  mouth  would  be  injurious;  how  necessary  to  their 
health  cleanliness  is,  and  that  extremes  of  hot  and  cold 
foods  and  drinks  are  to  be  avoided,  as  well  as  stiff  brushes, 
poor  washes  and  powders;  and  that  a  visit  to  the  dentist, 
occasionally,  even  when  it  does  not  seem  actually  necessary, 
may  be  the  means  of  averting  trouble;  that  self  denial  in 
youth,  while  the  teeth  are  growing,  may  save  sorrow  later 
and  provide  pleasure. 

When  Nellie  Sutherland  came  to  school  with  glasses  on 
her  eyes,  because  they  had  been  weakened  by  over-much 
reading,  often  in  a  dim  light,  it  was  not  difficult  to  interest 
her,  and  soon  the  others,  in  the  general  care  of  eyes.  But 
if  there  was  no  trouble  brewing,  I  took  up  things  that  I 
knew  would  be  of  interest,  and  after  announcing  the  subject 
for  the  next  lesson,  would  say:  'Find  out  all  that  you  can 
abput  it,  anywhere.'  Sometimes  the  topic  would  have  to 
be  subdivided,  and  a  part  given  to  one  of  the  class,  an- 
other part  to  some  one  else;  and  so,  until  each  had  his 
special  assignment,  on  which  it  was  desired  that  he  should 
be  especially  well  prepared,  and  still  have  a  good  working 
knowledge  of  the  entire  lesson. 

If  one  found  a  particularly  good  magazine  article,  that 
was  placed  to  his  credit,  and  he  would  read  it  to  the  class, 
as  an  honor.  If  some  one  knew  of  any  one  else  that  had 


1  5°  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

anything  of  interest  in  his  division,  he  assumed  the 
responsibility  of  asking  for  the  loan,  and  its  return.  It  all 
helped  make  lessons  real,  and  valuable." 

"Well,  I  should  say  it  would!  But  will  you  tell  me  just 
where  you  expect  to  get  any  outside  help  on  anything  so 
dull  as  physiology?"  asked  Miss  Sigourney,  with  more  than 
apathetic  interest  visible. 

"I  am  surprised,  sometimes,  at  the  really  good  points 
that  can  be  fished  out  of  the  daily  or  weekly  newspaper," 
was  the  serious  reply.  "To  be  sure,  great  care  must  be 
taken  that  the  information  is  not  merely  rumor,  and  that 
the  suggestions  are  helpful  instead  of  contrawise.  -Maga- 
zines in  this  line  are  scientific,  plentiful,  and  reasonable  in 
price.  I  subscribe  to  'Health  Culture'  and  'Good  Health'; 
and  the  class  takes  'The  Delineator'  for  its  health 
talks.  Other  magazines  come  our  way,  having  a  column 
or  department  devoted  to  health,  and  some  newspapers 
also.  We  have  made  more  than  one  book  of  clippings,  and 
are  saving  for  others.  Then,  too,  we  have  access  to 
publishers'  and  library  catalogues;  and  when  a  topic  of 
special  significance  or  meager  outline  comes  up,  we  go  to 
the  newer  books,  to  see  if  anything  farther  has  been  put 
upon  the  market." 

"How  do  you  ever  keep  up  your  expense  for  all  these 
things?"  asked  Mr.  Lowell.  "I  should  think  that  it  would 
take  an  unlimited  purse  to  buy  so  many  books  and  sub- 
scribe to  so  many  magazines." 

"Oh,  I  have  never  found  that  I  could  keep  taking  things 
out  of  a  cupboard  without  having  it  sometime  become 
bare,  like  Mother  Hubbard's.  My  books,  etc.,  are  my 
tools;  and  a  certain  part  of  my  salary  must  go  toward 


PRACTICAL  PHYSIOLOGY.  151 

what  will  improve  me,  or  I  will  soon  lose  my  salary !  The 
proportion  is  small,  very;  and  yet  the  personal  loss  would 
be  very  great  if  I  did  otherwise." 

Tools,  for  teaching,  an  investment!  That  was  a  drop 
idea  to  some  of  us  that  I  could  name,  but  won't. 

Miss  Preston  doesn't  say  to  anyone  in  her  class:  "Re- 
cite the  first  paragraph  about  the  circulation  of  the 
blood,"  but  instead:  "Who  has  an  illustration,  this  morn- 
ing, of  the  way  in  which  the  blood  passes  from  lungs  to 
heart  and  back?  Who  can  name  the  organs  through  which 
the  blood  passes  in  making  a  round  trip,  and  how  long  it 
takes?  Who  knows  of  some  things  that  feed  the  blood? 
That  impoverish  it?  Who  will  give  me  a  paper,  to-morrow, 
on  the  very  best  way  to  aid  circulation  of  the  blood?  Ah, 
thank  you,  Albert.  Now  I  want  the  rest  of  you  to  watch 
for  his  good  points,  but  don't  let  him  leave  out  any,  nor 
put  in  bad  ones." 

Then  she  always  calls  for  authorities,  so  that  each  one 
knows  the  author  of  his  information,  and  also  that  he  can 
not  be  credited  with  what  is  spurious.  In  cases  of  doubt 
or  disagreement,  here  as  elsewhere,  they  consult  together, 
weigh  the  evidence,  and  decide  upon  the  preponderance; 
so  that  no  text  book  is  necessarily  swallowed  whole,  covers 
.and  all.  The  pupils  are  actually  trained  to  think,  and  to 
do  it  intelligently,  even  in  so  small  a  matter  as  physiology. 

Not  a  complaint  has  come  to  her,  so  far  as  I  can  see, 
about  the  pursuit  of  the  study,  for  she  has  made  it  so 
practical;  and  she  wants  some  one  to  do  just  this  with 
the  subject  in  all  the  schools.  That  is  why  she  is  asking 
for  a  "special"  teacher,  and  I'm  inclined  to  think  she's 
right  in  saying  that  the  perfunctory  teaching  of  physiology 


1 5  2  PRESTON  PA  PERS. 

has  more  to  do  with  the  dislike  of  children  for  it  than  any 
other  one  thing.  Indeed,  I  have  heard  one  teacher  say  in 
her  presence  that  she  hated  it,  and  never  "took"  any  more 
of  it  than  was  necessary  to  pass  her,  in  the  examination ! 

Now  we  are  on  the  eve  of  another  innovation,  for  Miss 
Preston  wants  to  have  Manual  Training  introduced,  and 
made  a  part  of  the  every-day  work.  More  of  that,  later, 
from 

Yours  Very  Truly, 

Miss  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 


HELPFUL  SUGGESTIONS.  153 


No.  XXIX. 
THE  TEACHING  OF  HISTORY. 

OLDTOWN,  N.  Y.,  Nov.  19,  189-. 
To  HON.  - 

State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction. 

My  Dear  Sir: — Such  a  buzzing  as  was  started  when 
Professor  Macomber  proposed  the  discussion  of  History! 
It  was  like  a  swarm  of  bees  let  loose;  and  here  are  some 
of  the  suggestions,  objections,  etc.,  as  they  flashed  in 
the  pan: 

"I  don't  believe  that  history  has  any  place  in  the 
primary  department  any  way.  Children  need  to  be  taught 
to  read  and  to  use  the  science  of  numbers  correctly,  before 
they  go  into  anything  as  dry  as  history,"  was  Miss  Sigour- 
ney's  first  cannon  ball. 

"Dry?"  burst  forth  from  Professor  Macomber.  "You 
amaze  me  !  History,  with  its  twin  sisters,  geography  and 
•biography,  dry?  Why,  where  would  you  get  a  more  juicy 
topic,  in  the  entire  curriculum?"  The  dapper  little  man 
looked  the  unutterable  things  that  he  felt  but  dared  not 
speak,  and  Miss  Sigourney  was  most  becomingly  subdued. 
Hypnotism  affects  so  many  in  that  way!  Now  all  that 
dash  and  bluster  only  ruffled  me;  for  while  I  do  not  at  all 
agree  with  Miss  Sigourney  (that  is,  I  don't  now;  and  I'm 
not  bound  to  incriminate  myself  by  telling  what  I  thought 
of  anything  outside  of  the  "three  R's"  before  Miss  Preston 


1 5  4  PRES  TON  PA  PERS, 

had  breathed  upon  my  half-dead  soul,  and  revivified  it!)  I 
just  hated  to  hear  him  agonize  in  that  way. 

"Let  us  call  for  opinions  and  do  the  thing  with  some 
show  of  order,"  said  Mr.  Johnson,  a  little  shortly,  that  is, 
shortly  for  him,  in  his  reconstruction  manner.  So  the  roll 
was  called,  much  after  the  old-time  way,  with  this  differ- 
ence, that  now  there  was  actually  something  to  be  said  and 
thought  when  the  names  were  announced. 

Miss  Wardwell  was  the  first,  for  the  "alphabet"  was 
read  from  the  further  end  first  this  time.  "I  am  too  poor 
a  teacher  of  anything  to  be  worth  much  in  the  way  of  ad- 
vice," was  the  humble  pie  with  which  she  started  to  regale 
us  ;  but  she  soon  forgot  the  dessert  end,  and  gave  us  some 
really  solid  food  for  thought  in  the  following:  "I  keep  a 
list  of  the  books  on  this  subject,  and  buy  as  many  as  I  can 
afford  to,  even  picking  them  up  at  the  second-hand  store. 
Then  I  have  a  'Loan  Library'  to  piece  out  with,  gathered 
from  among  the  pupils,  each  one  becoming  responsible  for 
one  volume,  to  be  used  by  the  class.  Each  member  has  a 
turn  at  taking  charge  of  the  library;  and  each  has  the 
benefit  of  what  the  rest  bring  in.  In  this  way  I  have 
secured  the  interest  and  cooperation  of  the  pupils,  and 
often  of  outsiders.  It  enlarges  the  scope  of  the  children's 
knowledge  as  to  the  historical  writers,  and  of  the  difference 
in  their  styles;  and  I  consider  these  good  points." 

"And  so  they  are,"  assented  Mr.  Johnson,  his  temporary 
affection  passing  away  with  its  direct  cause.  "Do  you 
make  a  note  of  the  publisher's  name?" 

"Yes,  and  of  the  address;  also  of  the  price  and  size  of 
the  book,  name  of  the  author,  and  date  of  publication,  so 
that  we  may  be  sure  of  those  that  are  up  to  date." 


HISTORY  TEACHING.  1 55 

I  made  a  mental  note  of  this,  but  didn't  really  want  to 
be  conspicuous  by  using  a  pencil,  on  what  seemed  a  trivial 
point.  Miss  Preston  did,  though,  and  I  was  not  surprised 
to  hear  her  say:  "I'm  so  glad  that  you  brought  out  that 
point,  Miss  Wardwell;  for  I  think  that  we  ought  to  know 
about  the  new,  even  while  they  may  not  be  any  improve- 
ment on  the  old.  New  and  old  are  relative  terms  any 
way." 

Others  spoke,  and  soon  all  formality  went  to  the  winds, 
before  the  breath  of  inspiration.  Mr.  Johnson  said:  "I 
have  never  advocated  the  introduction  of  history  into  the 
lower  grades,  but  I  am  beginning  to  think  that  we  should 
do  so." 

"I  am  sure  of  it,"  said  Miss  Preston.  "It  presupposes, 
of  course,  that  we  will  proceed  from  the  known  to  the  un- 
known, and  so  I  always  teach  it  backwards!" 

"Mercy!  Whataway!"  exclaimed  Miss  Wood.  Then,  as 
if  in  apology  for  seeming  rudeness,  she  added:  "Will  you  not 
kindly  give  us  the  wherefore?  I  have  been  so  long  accus- 
tomed to  following  my  normal  school  methods,  to  the  letter, 
that  I  sometimes  forget  that  it  is  the  spirit  that  giveth  life, 
while  the  letter  killeth.  Perhaps  that's  why  my  history 
classes  are  a  flat  failure.  I'd  like  to  do  better  work." 

"Nearly  all  children,  even  up  to  a  hundred  years  old, 
care  more  for  the  events  that  are  passing,  the  people  who 
are  doing  the  world's  work  of  to-day,  than  they  do  about 
the  dead  past.  I  have  no  trouble  in  getting  them  interested 
in  talking  about  General  Shafter,  Admiral  Dewey,  and 
President  McKinley.  From  these  I  can  lead  them  back,  a 
little  at  a  time,  to  other  presidents,  other  generals,  and  the 
events  in  connection  with  their  names  and  lives;  whereas, 


IS6  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

had  I  begun  with  the  strangers,  I  should  not  have  been  so 
easily  able  to  get  or  hold  attention  from  the  start.  Then, 
too,  local  history  has  a  charm,  all  its  own.  'My  father  did 
so  and  so,'  or  'My  grandfather  was  there,'  is  not  uncom- 
mon, when  I  am  leading  them  in  the  historical  paths  that 
surround  our  own  town,  or  county;  and  from  there  to  the 
state  and  out  into  the  entire  country  is  but  a  series  of 
easily  graded  steps!" 

"And  do  you  do  this  with  advanced  classes,  too?"  asked 
Mr.  Lowell. 

"Yes,  unless  the  classes  have  already  been  well  drilled 
in  home  history  and  current  events." 

"Just  how  do  you  hear  a  lesson  in  history  for  an  advanced 
class,  Miss  Preston?"  asked  Professor  Macomber. 

"That  depends  so  much  upon  class,  time,  and  other  cir- 
cumstances that  it  is  hard  to  tell  off-hand.  Generally, 
though,  I  announce  the  topic  and  quote  my  side-lights. 
Then  I  divide  the  lesson  into  two  parts:  a  reading  period, 
which  is  always  preliminary,  a  day  in  advance,  and  a  recita- 
tion period  for  the  lesson  day. 

In  the  reading  lesson  I  look  out  for  pronunciation,  tone, 
articulation,  and  the  spelling  of  new  or  unfamiliar  words. 
I  look  out,  too,  for  the  language  of  the  historian,  which  is 
not  always  strictly  rhetorical.  I  call  upon  some  one  to  tell 
all  that  he  knows,  of  a  certain  point  in  the  lesson — not 
confining  him  to  the  text  book  work,  but  requiring  that  he 
quote  his  authority,  in  order  that  we  may  know  whether  or 
not  it  is  reliable;  for  I  do  not  want  the  children  to  get  in 
the  habit  of  placing  too  much  confidence  in  rumor,  nor  in 
merely  newspaper  headlines.  Neither  do  I  check  his  use 
of  text-book  language,  if  I  find  that  he  uses  it  with  in- 


METHODS  AND  DEVICES.  i$7 

telligence;  although  I  do  not  allow  a  mumbling  of  words 
whose  meaning  is  not  grasped.  When  he  has  gone  as  far 
as  he  can,  without  prompting,  on  the  point  under  con- 
sideration, I  call  on  others  to  come  in  for  the  finish. 

Sometimes  I  call  for  volunteer  recitations,  instead  of 
appointing  some  one  to  tell  what  he  knows.  At  other 
times  I  ask  questions;  or  occasionally  I  let  one  division  of 
the  class  do  the  questioning — it  maybe  boys  against  girls, 
or  those  on  one  seat  as  opposed  to  those  on  another;  any 
way  so  as  to  get  up  a  little  good-natured  rivalry,  which  I 
try  to  hold  within  desirable  limits." 

"Do  you  review  often?"  asked  Mr.  Johnson. 

"Yes.  Every  lesson  is  a  review,  for  we  find  the  con- 
necting link  between  the  lessons  that  have  preceded  and 
the  one  before  us.  Once  a  week  we  write  up  whatever  of 
interest  has  appealed  most  strongly  to  each,  and  about  once 
a  month  we  write  on  a  given  topic.  Our  oral  reviews  are 
carried  on  mainly  as  'conversation'  lessons;  for  I  have 
found  that  it  is  desirable  to  teach  conversation,  and  have 
but  little  time  for  it  as  a  special  study. 

We  have  debates,  too,  and  sometimes  these  are  a  part  of 
a  historical  program,  for  a  'public.'  A  'School  Paper"  on 
history,  to  which  all  members  of  the  class  contribute,  is  a 
sometimes  pleasant  feature. 

We  also  have  a  'History  Club,'  and  occasionally  a 
'History  Social'  at  my  boarding  place  or  at  the  home  of 
some  one  of  the  class. 

If  the  subject  is  especially  dull  at  any  given  point  where 
I  consider  it  essential  that  all  should  be  well  grounded  in 
the  facts,  as  well  as  in  the  whys  of  the  occasion,  I  simply 
invest  that  recitation  with  the  form  of  a  game,  perhaps 


IS8  PRES  TON  PA  PERS. 

that  of  'Twenty  Questions,'  or  a  'Question  Box,'  or  to  be 
'played'  like  'Authors'  from  cards  that  we  have  prepared. 

A  great  deal  of  valuable  information  is  gotten  in  these 
ways,  easily,  and  without  the  friction  that  is  sometimes 
attendant  upon  the  teaching  of  history  in  the  regular  way; 
but  I  always  mean  to  put  in  enough  of  the  regular  work  to 
preserve  the  thought  of  study,  and  of  digging  for  informa- 
tion." 

"  Don't  you  often  combine  "other  things  with  your  history 
lesson?"  asked  Professor  Macomber,  with  interest.  History 
is  one  of  his  (relatively !)  strong  points,  of  which  he  seems 
to  have  none  too  many. 

"I  try  to  'dovetail'  all  my  work,  and  find  it  especially 
easy  to  connect  the  teaching  of  history  with  that  of  litera^ 
ture,  geography,  civil  government,  patriotism,  biography, 
reading,  etc.,  composition,  debating,  and  kindred  sub' 
jects,  besides  the  topics  already  mentioned,"  was  the  reply. 

"I  am  sure  that  we  can  all  get  something,  by  way  of 
hints,  as  to  the  teaching  of  history,  from  this  little  talk," 
said  Mr.  Johnson,  "and  I  should  be  glad  to  hear  from  any 
others  who  have  any  'bargains'  to  offer." 

Really,  our  Superintendent  is  getting  facetious,  or  else  he 
is  learning  that  he  can  not  always  catch  pedagogical  fish  on 
a  pedantic  hook  that  is  baited  with  didactics!  I  am  sure 
that  we  all  appreciate  this  change  in  him,  even  if  we  seem 
slow  to  copy  it. 

On  recall,  Miss  Preston  added:  "If  a  place  is  mentioned, 
in  the  history  lesson,  we  try  to  find  out  all  that  we  can 
about  the  place,  and  how  it  came  to  be  brought  into  this 
group  of  events,  as  well  as  to  see  how  it  was  affected 
thereby.  And  we  do  much  the  same  if  a  person  is  men- 


LOGIC  APPLIED  TO  HISTORY.  159 

tioned.  We  try  to  find  out  the  leading  characteristics, 
what  produced  them,  and  what  possibilities  might  have 
changed  them  all.  And  so  of  a  condition  :  how  it  affected 
men,  time,  and  places;  how  the  condition  might  have 
been  changed  or  avoided;  what  was  the  primary  cause  of 
the  condition,  and  whatever  else  pertained  to  it.  We  are 
all  on  the  qui  vive  to  apply  our  other  reading  matter  to 
the  history  lessons;  so  the  newspapers,  magazines,  and 
library  books  get  a  scanning;  and  each  one  brings  the  result 
of  his  search,  for  the  benefit  of  all.  This  keeps  the  ball 
rolling,  and  the  interest  never  flags." 

I  shouldn't  think  that  it  could!  With  all  that  thought 
spent  on  it,  what  study  would  not  teem  with  living  interest? 
Who  would  call  even  psychology  "dry,"  'if  some  one 
would  come  down  from  the  highest  rounds  of  the  ladder, 
where  most  of  our  philosophic  speakers  perch,  with  their 
heads  in  the  clouds,  crumbling  stars  to  scatter  upon  us 
poor  mortals  below,  when  all  that  we  want  is  just  common 
bread  crumbs! 

I  have  just  heard  it  whispered  that  we  are  to  have  a 
little  talk  on  practical  psychology  at  our  next  meeting,  of 
which  —  if  it  is  worth  while  —  I  will  write  you. 

Very  Truly, 

Miss  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 


160  PRESTON  PAPERS. 


No.  XXX. 

NATURE   WORK. 

OLDTOWN,  N.  Y.,  Dec.  10,  189-. 

My  Dear  Superintendent:  —  It  was  more  than  an  ordinary 
gathering  that  discussed  the  pros  and  cons  of  Nature  Work 
at  our  last  meeting.  Miss  Sigourney  had  cried  out  against 
its  introduction  into  an  already  overburdened  curriculum, 
and  as  a  "fad"  that  had  neither  rhyme  nor  reason  to  give 
it  an  excuse  for  existence,  and  one  that  would  pass  with  a 
lot  of  other  senseless  trash  that  had  already  been  relegated 
to  the  back  yard. 

Really,  the  picture  that  she  drew  was  not  altogether 
untruthful;  but  it  seemed  to  me  that  if  the  work  was  once 
entered  upon  in  the  right  spirit  it  had  great  capabilities 
for  good,  and  that  through  it  almost  any  child  may  be 
awakened  to  an  interest  in  his  other  work. 

But  what  can  you  expect,  when  one-half  of  the  work  that 
is  done  in  the  name  of  Nature  might  better  be  spelled 
mechanical,  and  that  done  without  heart,  knowledge,  or 
sympathy!1  Why,  you  may  not  be  ready  to  believe  what  I 
actually  saw,  in  one  of  our  schools,  recently,  where  I  had 
stopped  to  do  an  errand  for  Miss  Preston ;  but  one  of  the 
teachers  was  actually  killing  a  butterfly,  for  mounting,  and 
that  in  the  presence  of  a  class  of  tiny  children  who  should 
have  been  taught,  instead,  to  respect  the  life  that  God  had 
given,  and  to  harm  nothing  that  breathed! 


VARYING  NATURE  WORK.  161 

But  Miss  Sigourney  was  followed  by  a  mild  protest  from 
Professor  Lowell,  who  said,  half  apologetically:  "I  think 
that  if  our  Nature  Work  was  less  cut-and-dried  in  its  pres- 
entation we  might  get  more  out  of  it." 

"Just  what  do  you  mean,  Mr.  Lowell?"  asked  Miss 
Sigourney. 

"Why,  I  mean  that,  somehow,  our  Nature  Work  seems 
to  have,  in  some  way,  been  confined  to  animals;  and  while 
it  is  true  that  this  is  a  large  field,  and  one  that  perhaps 
none  of  us  ever  expects  to  cover  in  its  entirety,  yet  many 
children  are  even  more  interested,  at  times,  in  some  other 
things.  I  have  found  that  if  a  child  has  any  great  natural 
repugnance,  for  instance,  to  studying  a  caterpillar  or  an 
earthworm,  it  is  just  as  well  to  lead  him  to  consider  some- 
thing else  in  the  wide  realm  of  Nature,  for  awhile  —  say: 
rocks,  clouds,  hills,  rivers,  or  even  some  of  the  common 
fruits,  flowers,  and  vegetables.  Nearly  all  children  love  to 
talk,  study,  and  write  about  the  things  with  which  they  are 
on  speaking  acquaintance;  but  not  all  are  ready  to  be 
invested  with  heavenly  sympathy  for  creeping  and  crawling 
things,  at  the  outset." 

That  seemed  to  be  the  signal  for  Miss  Preston's  welcome 
voice,  and  she  said,  with  some  warmth:  "I  think  that  you 
are  right,  Mr.  Lowell.  There  are  but  few  children  who  do 
not  love  to  see,  hear,  and  talk  of  growing  things.  From 
these,  they  may  easily  be  led  into  other  avenues  of  think- 
ing, seeing,  hearing  and  speech.  But  it  must  all  be  done 
judiciously.  I  have  seen  a  lesson  on  earth-worms  made  so 
repugnant  to  childhood  that  nothing  could  ever  efface  its 
effects;  and  more  than  one  child  has  been  nauseated,  and 
even  made  hysterical,  in  some  instances,  by  the  cutting  up 


1 6  2  PR ES  TON  PA  PERS. 

of  a  pig's  eye,  or  the  analysis  of  a  cow's  heart,  in  the 
interest  of  Nature  or  Science,  before  a  class  that  had  not 
been  trained  up  to  it.  We  need  to  take  children  as  we  find 
them,  and  not  force  them  beyond  what  they  can  bear,  even 
in  Nature  Work." 

"Would  you  mind  telling  us  just  how  you  begin  the  work, 
Miss  Preston?"  asked  Mr.  Johnson,  just  a  little  anxiously, 
for  he  had  but  recently  returned  from  the  state  convention, 
where  most  of  the  papers,  and  much  of  the  discussion,  had 
been  on  this  now  popular  theme. 

"Not  in  the  least,  although  I  am  but  a  tyro,  and  presume 
that  others  have  accomplished  equally  good  results;  and  I 
want  to  hear  from  them.  I  think,  with  Professor  Lowell, 
that  the  realm  of  Nature  is  so  wide  that  we  need  neither 
be  limited  to  any  one  of  the  three  kingdoms,  nor  to  any 
department  of  them,  for  our  material.  I  believe  that  we  have 
always  been  doing  Nature  Work,  even  though  it  may  have 
been  under  the  more  specific  names  of  botany,  geology, 
meteorology,  or  what  not.  Just  now  it  is  all  lumped  off  in 
what  sounds  well;  but  the  good  Mother  Nature  herself  is 
unchanged. 

I  begin  with  whatever  seems  to  appeal  most  easily  or 
strongly  to  the  class  in  hand.  Perhaps  in  the  early  spring 
I  might  find  a  few  clusters  of  strawberries,  in  the  field,  and 
bring  them  in,  roots,  vines,  blossoms,  stems,  fruit,  or  what- 
ever was  to  be  had.  I  should  be  quite  likely,  first,  to  put 
some  part  of  the  specimens  of  each  child's  desk,  and  have 
an  'observation'  lesson,  asking  each  one  to  tell  me  what 
he  saw.  The  'reports'  would  be  written  on  the  board,  by 
some  of  the  older  ones;  and  when  the  subject  had  been 
quite  thoroughly  canvassed,  I  would  let  them  paint,  or 


ADAPTATION  IN  THE  WORtf.  163 

draw,  or  'brush'  the  object.  If  that  filled  up  all  the  time 
that  I  had  for  that  lesson,  a  'conversation'  lesson  might 
be  given  the  next  day,  in  which  I  would  lead  the  children 
to  the  discovery  of  new  facts,  that  had  escaped  their 
attention.  An  'information'  lesson  would  follow,  from  my 
own  fund,  to  add  to  theirs.  If  I  knew  anything  of  the 
history,  geography,  literature,  or  classification  of  the  object, 
that  might  be  of  use  or  interest,  this  is  the  point  where  it 
would  seem  most  effective.  All  would  be  followed  by  an 
outline,  on  the  board,  in  which  the  leading  points  would 
be  mentioned  by  a  word  or  two,  and  some  reference  to 
where  further  information  might  be  secured;  and  then  I 
would  give  opportunity  for  each  to  put  it  in  writing,  by 
self,  or  by  proxy  if  too  young  to  write  easily." 

"  Is  this  the  method  that  you  follow  throughout  the 
year?"  asked  Miss  Sigourney,  with  apparent  interest. 

"Yes,  with  variations.  In  winter,  I  have  let  the  children 
study  snow  flakes, 'icicles,  wind,  sunsets,  stars,  water,  winter 
birds,  frost,  evergreens,  animals,  etc.  The  spring  and 
summer  months  seem  more  prolific,  at  the  first  glance;  but 
the  winter  in  full  of  interesting  objects.  Heat,  cold,  and 
similar  topics,  are  alive  with  questions  that  even  puzzle  me 
at  times;  and  I  have  to  study  ahead  of  the  little  ones,  in 
order  to  keep  pace  with  their  great  interest." 

This  is  absolutely  true,  for  I  know  that  when  Miss 
Preston  had  hushed  one  little  timid  girl's  fear  of  thunder, 
during  a  storm  that  broke  with  sudden  intensity  one  after- 
noon, she  had  opened  the  subject  of  electricity;  and  the 
children  became  so  enthusiastic  that  it  was  not  until  she 
had  promised  to  give  them  one  of  her  "Five  Minute  Talks" 
on  the  subject,  daily,  that  they  could  be  induced  to  give  it 


164  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

up  for  the  regular  work;  and  once  they  were  started  on  it, 
she  had  to  study  at  every  opportunity,  to  be  ready  with 
answers  for  their  numerous  questions.  She  never  seems  to 
mind  saying  "I  don't  know,"  but  never  fails  to  add:  "But 
I  will  find  out,"  which  she  does,  even  at  the  expense  of 
rest,  pleasure  (I  ought  not  to  say  that,  for  her  school  is  her 
pleasure),  social  life,  and  everything  else.  But  — 

"Did  I  hear  that  you  had  a  hen  and  chickens  in  your 
school,  last  week,  Miss  Preston,  for  study?"  asked  Mr. 
Macomber. 

Now,  Mr.  Macomber  is  Mr.  Johnson's  new  assistant. 
He  is  a  fine  theorist,  and  as  he  has  studied  "pedagogy"  at 
a  foreign  university,  he  has  little  or  no  respect  for  that 
which  has  been  accquired  simply  by  years  of  devotion  to 
the  work  and  its  practical  application.  Lacking  the  sheep- 
skin of  Jena  University,  there  is  no  pedagogy,  for  him. 
With  his  florid  complexion,  his  blonde  mustache,  with 
which  he  plays  almost  constantly,  and  his  pink  shirt-front, 
he  can  frown  down  any  of  us  "old  fogies,"  no  matter  how 
earnestly  we  are  trying  to  do  our  best,  and  to  seek  the 
light.  He  thinks  that  he  is  that  "light,"  and  because  we 
are  not  all  ready  to  read,  sing,  and  pray,  by  what  he  can 
furnish  to  us,  educationally,  he  is  at  swords'  points  with 
most  of  us,  all  the  time.  He  has  seldom  dared  to  tackle 
Miss  Preston,  for  she's  no  common-sense-y  that  she  would 
run  a  pin  into  his  theories  so  soon  that  they'd  all  collapse 
at  the  touch.  So  we  were  on  the  qui  vive  to  see  if  she 
would  take  him  seriously  now. 

"Why,  I  can  hardly  tell  what  you  may  have  heard, 
Dr.  Macomber,  but  I  not  only  had  a  hen  and  chickens 
there,  and  was  very  happy  in  having  the  opportunity  to 


IMPERTINENT  QUIZZING.  165 

study  some  points  myself,  but  the  children  were  doubly  so," 
she  returned,  gravely. 

"Will  you  tell  me  just  what  the  object  was?"  he  pur- 
sued, perhaps  a  little  reckless  of  consequences  to  his 
egoism. 

"Our  lesson  that  day  had  been  about  the  hen,  and  I 
knew  that  Biddy  and  her  family  would  prove  a  help.  So  I 
brought  them  or  had  them  brought.  Another  time,  when 
the  lesson  was  on  'Rodents'  I  had  a  mouse,  a  rat  in  a 
trap,  and  a  squirrel.  And  the  children  got  a  much 
better  idea  of  'gnawers'  than  they  could  have  done 
from  pictures;  for  we  fed  them  all,  and  the  little  animals 
seemed  to  enjoy  the  novelty  quite  as  much  as  the 
children  did." 

"Suppose  that  you  were  studying  the  horse,  Miss  Pres- 
ton," said  Professor  Macomber.  "Would  you  bring  an 
equine  into  the  school?" 

I  could  see  that  Mr.  Johnson  was  annoyed  at  this 
impertinent  quizzing  by  his  subordinate;  for  whatever  may 
have  been  his  feeling  regarding  Miss  Preston,  long  ago,  it 
is  certain  that  she  has  long  been  his  ideal  teacher,  his  court 
of  appeals  on  all  questions  of  methods  or  management. 
She  replied  slowly: 

"I  seldom  cross  a  bridge  until  I  at  least  see  the  river; 
but,  if  there  were  no  horses  to  be  seen  outside  of  the  school- 
room, I  am  not  sure  that  I  should  fear  fatal  results  from 
bringing  one  to  the  door  for  examination!" 

That  settled  him,  but  our  talk  overflowed  into  the  hall, 
down  the  stairs,  and  out  upon  the  street. 

Mr.  Macomber  had  kept  a  little  live  alligator  on  his  desk 
on  the  platform,  up  to  this  time;  and  one  of  the  older  girls 


1 66  PRESTON  PA PERS, 

had  begged  him  to  release  it,  or  to  put  it  out  of  her  sight; 
for  she  said  that  she  was  actually  afraid  of  it,  and  that 
after  it  had  hauntjed  her  all  day  (her  desk  was  right  in 
front  of  it)  she  was  so  nervous  that  she  would  go  home  and 
dream  about  it!  And  I  didn't  much  wonder,  for  it  was  a 
most  repulsive  looking  little  thing.  I  noticed  soon  after 
that  day,  that  the  alligator  was  not  there;  but  I  have  never 
»  had  the  temerity  to  ask  what  had  become  of  it.  Curiosity 
is  not  my  strong  point,  any  way. 

And  so  we  are  studying  Nature,  now,  in  Nature's  way, 
not  in  any  cold,  superficial  manner  —  as  if  it  were  done  to 
keep  up  the  average;  but  we  have  beans,  peas,  corn,  water- 
melons, etc.,  planted  in  flower  pots,  boxes,  or  whatever 
comes  handy,  in  the  school-houses;  and  other  things  are 
growing  out  of  doors,  in  our  school-gardens,  all  over  the 
city. 

We  take  up  the  most  timely  thing  in  a  broad  way,  and 
"correlate"  as  we  go,  not  for  the  simple  sake  of  correlation, 
which  is  nothing,  of  itself,  but  in  order  to  keep  the  connect- 
ing links  unbroken,  and  to  show  the  child  the  dependence 
and  the  interdependence  of  one  thing  with  another. 

"There  is  Nature  Work  in  a  slice  of  bread,  a  bit  of 
ribbon,  a  piece  of  bark,  a  banana  or  an  orange,  just  as 
truly  as  there  is  in  worms,  moths,  caterpillars,  and  butter- 
flies," is  Miss  Preston's  creed,  and  her  practice  accords 
with  it;  "and  I  think  that  no  teacher  need  say:  'I 
am  in  the  city,  so  can  not  be  expected  to  have  any 
Nature  Work  in  my  school,'  nor  that  she  will  be 
excused  for  her  neglect,  so  long  as  the  markets  afford 
fish,  flesh,  and  fowl,  to  say  nothing  of  fruits  and 
flowers! 


THE  BEGINNING.  167 

We  must  reach  the  children  by  what  is  nearest  to  them, 
first,  and  from  that  point  lead  them  out  as  far  as  may  be." 
I  believe  it.     Don't  you? 

I  am  Very  Truly, 

Miss  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 


1 68  PRESTON  PAPERS. 


No.  XXXI. 
MANUAL   TRAINING. 

OLDTOWN,  N.  Y.,  Jan.  5,  189-. 
SUPT.  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION. 

My  Dear  Mr. .• — It  has  come,  and  to  stay!     I  mean 

the  cooking  class,  the  sewing  class,  the  metal  and  the 
wood  work!  It  is  so  long  since  I  have  had  a  chance  to 
write,  owing  to  the  new  work,  and  all  that  it  means,  that 
I  shall  have  to  go  back,  almost  a  year  and  a  half. 

As  I  have  often  hinted,  Miss  Preston  has  made  things 
"dovetail"  and  do  it  so  naturally,  that  when  she  attempted 
such  an  innovation  as  this,  even,  it  has  come  easily,  more 
so  than  less  practical  help  would,  to  others. 

One  of  the  Board  dropped  into  the  building  one  day, 
while  she  was  with  one  of  the  classes  up  stairs,  the  grade 
teacher  being  away  that  day,  sick.  I  wanted  him  to  wait, 
and  let  me  send  a  boy  up,  to  tell  her  that  Mr.  Miller  was 
there;  but  no,  he  would  go  right  up  stairs,  he  said.  I  didn't 
think  that  it  was  just  the  thing,  but  I  am  no  hand  to 
argue.  (I  suppose  that  I  might  have  been  a  principal 
myself,  by  this  time,  if  I  had  been  able  to  speak  up  more 
promptly.  I  can  think  fast  enough,  but  I  just  never  can 
talk.)  So  off  he  went. 

I  found  out  afterwards  that  she  was  just  in  the  midst  of 
a  lesson  with  the  physiology  class,  and  it  was  about  "Food 
Values."  She  was  just  saying:  "And  if  I  had  my  little  oil 


MR.  MILLER'S  ENDORSEMENT.  169 

stove  here,  I  would  demonstrate  it  for  you.  (Some  dif- 
ference of  opinion  had  arisen  about  the  proper  cooking  of 
an  egg.)  I  think  I  will  try  to  get  it  brought  over,  to- 
morrow, so  that  we  can  do  a  little  experimenting  — "  when 
in  walked  Mr.  Miller,  after  a  light  knock.  He  says  that  he 
shall  never  forget  the  expression  of  rapt  interest  on  the 
faces  of  the  class  before  him.  Not  one  bit  of  attention  did 
they  have  for  him,  unless  it  was  a  politely  concealed 
impatience  that  he  should  interrupt.  With  the  enthusiasm 
which  is  born  of  contact  with  her  teaching,  and  without 
stopping  to  weigh  consequences,  to  himself  or  the  Board, 
he  asked:  "Did  I  hear  you  wish  that  you  had  a  stove, 
Miss  Preston?"  gravely. 

"Perhaps  so.  I  sometimes  think  that  mere  'book' 
knowledge  doesn't  weigh  as  much,  to  the  yard,  as  experi- 
mental information  does.  Just  now  we  were  all  ready  to 
apply  a  little  bit  of  our  lesson  in  physiology  to  cooking. 
You  know  that  these  two,  and  chemistry,  walk  hand  in 
hand,  through  our  real  life." 

"I  know  that  they  ought  to,  if  they  don't.  And  if  a 
stove  or  anything  else,  within  my  means,  is  necessary  to 
the  blending  of  the  useful  with  the  theoretical,  you  shall 
.have  it.  In  fact,  I  came  up  this  afternoon  mainly  for  the 
purpose  of  talking  over  this  very  subject  with  you.  It  was 
brought  up,  at  the  Board  meeting,  last  night.  I  was  not  at 
all  prepared  to  vote  for  it  then,  believing  it  to  be  simply 
one  more  fad  that  would  fade,  in  time.  But,  Miss  Preston, 
you  have  put  reality  and  life  into  this  lesson,  and  I  should 
be  more  than  glad  to  further  your  plans." 

So  now  we  have  a  full  fledged  cooking  school,  a  teacher 
of  sewing,  knitting,  and  crocheting  for  the  girls;  a  class  in 


1 7 o  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

woodwork,  and  another  in  metal  work,  among  the  boys; 
and  best  of  all,  perhaps,  outside  of  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
pupils  themselves,  is  the  fact  that  from  first  to  last  there 
has  not  been  one  word  of  complaint  from  taxpayers,  nor 
from  parents  who  are  not  taxpayers!  The  whole  place  is 
interested;  and  if  we  are  not  careful,  Miss  Preston  will  be 
done  in  wax  and  put  on  exhibition,  for  she  was  the  prime 
mover  of  it  all. 

The  students  are  in  no  way  less  studious,  but  on  the 
contrary,  more  work  is  done,  and  more  cheerfully,  in  the 
chemistry  and  botany,  by  the  girls,  now  that  they  can 
apply  the  lessons;  and  more  by  the  boys,  in  drawing, 
because  they  will  use  that  in  the  wood  working,  etc. 
Greater  comradeship  is  shown,  too;  and  sympathy  seems 
to  have  had  a  big  revival. 

But  perhaps  the  sentiment  of  the  city  will  best  be  shown 
by  an  extract  from  one  of  the  morning  papers .  .  .  and  the 
editor  has  not  given  his  unqualified  approval,  heretofore, 
to  any  part  of  our  curriculum: 

Our  School  Board  seems  at  last  to  have  come  to  its  senses,  in 
establishing  classes  for  manual  training,  for  such  pupils  as  are  at 
all  likely  to  need  this  in  their  after  life.  Personally,  I  hope  to  see 
the  day  when  every  child  will  have  this  instruction  whether  he 
asks  for  it  or  not. 

There  has  been  too  much  brain  culture,  and  too  little  body, 
heart,  and  hand  training,  in  our  public  shools,  for  a  generation  or 
more.  It  has  developed  a  sort  of  false  notion  as  to  the  place  that 
manual  labor  has  on  earth;  and  the  result  has  been  the  breeding 
a  set  of  kid-glove-and-silk-stocking  young  men  and  women,  who 
must  not  soil  their  hands,  no  matter  what  the  necessity  for  self- 
support. 

There  has  been  an  over-production  of  slip-shod  stenographers, 
who  could  only  get  five  dollars  a  week,  and  weren't  worth  that, 


APPROVAL  OF  THE  EDITOR.  171 

and  of  dainty  clerks  who  had  neither  mind  nor  muscle  that  would 
help  lift  them  beyond  the  pink  ribbons  which  they  could  measure 
off  much  faster  than  they  could  calculate  the  cost  for.  And  all 
this  time  we  have  been  suffering  from  tough  steaks,  poorly  made 
coffee,  and  a  dearth  of  honest  laborers  at  any  price. 

I  hail  the  day  when  the  schools  will  teach  everything  that 
belongs  to  housekeeping,  gardening,  carpentry,  etc.,  and  when 
every  child  will  be  given  his  birthright  privilege  of  an  education 
that  shall  be  compulsory  if  it  must,  in  fitting  him  for  a  useful 
place  in  life.  The  ornamental  may  safely  be  left  to  the  accident 
of  fortune,  while  the  child  is  being  given  something  that  will  keep 
him  from  forced  idleness  and  the  doom  of  poverty  in  a  land  of 
plenty,  because  he  does  not  know  how  to  do  one  useful  thing 
while  there  is  a  vast  army  of  waiting  applicants  for  every  place 
that  hires  any  one  for  the  so-called  'polite'  services. 

So  long  as  more  than  nine  tenths  of  our  school  population  never 
get  beyond  the  primary  department,  and  but  few  of  the  remainder 
ever  reach  the  high  school,  it  is  just  as  well  that  we  pay  first 
attention  to  the  speaking  needs  of  the  vast  majority.  'The 
greatest  good  to  the  greatest  number,'  must  be  the  motto,  here- 
after, and  not  'How  much  show  for  the  money.' 

I  understand  that  one  of  the  women  teachers  is  at  the  bottom 
of  the  movement  ....  and  it  is  but  one  more  instance  of  the  truth 
that  in  some  things  woman  is  a  more  capable  being  than  man ; 
and  one  of  these  points  of  superiority  is  easily  lodged  in  the  educa- 
tion of  the  young. 

Woman  may  not  be  a  first-class  logician,  at  all  times;  but 
she's  bound  to  learn  by  experience,  which  is  more  than  I  can  say 
for  my  own  sex. 

Let  us  have  more  industrial  classes,  by  all  means,  and  more 
good  teachers  of  manual  training;  and  let  us  never  be  satisfied 
short  of  experimental  farms,  kitchens,  hospitals,  offices,  etc. 

Well,  we  are  the  talk  of  the  country;  and  every  day 
brings  someone  from  abroad  to  see  us,  and  to  study  (or  to 
criticise  adversely)  our  system.  But  no  matter;  so  long  as 
our  own  taxpayers  are  satisfied,  and  our  leading  men  and 


1 7  2  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

women,  we  do  not  need  to  care  what  others  think.  Besides, 
the  benefit  is  so  apparent,  already,  in  the  chief  factor  to  be 
considered,  the  children,  that  we  cannot  be  too  grateful  to 
the  little  woman  who  has  brought  it  all  about,  and  so 
quietly,  with  no  friction,  even  among  the  teachers!  We 
are  certainly  in  danger  of  making  a  heroine  of  her,  and 
that  she  would  dislike!  She  stays  in  the  background  for 
everything  except  her  school;  and  by  "her  school"  I  mean 
any  school,  for  she  is  as  broad  as  she  is  revolutionary, 
which  is  saying  a  good  deal,  and  she  makes  any  school  or 
child  hers. 

I  must  tell  you  one  little  circumstance,  as  it  is  indicative 
of  the  "attitude"  of  our  patrons: 

Our  cooking  class  had  been  having  a  lesson  on  oysters, 
in  connection  with  their  natural  history,  and  they  had  been 
taught  how  to  make  a  most  savory  stew  of  the  toothsome 
bivalves.  One  of  the  older  girls,  Nellie  Munson,  who  had 
taken  but  little  interest  in  the  lessons  on  the  care  of  a 
stove,  building  of  fires,  and  similar  things,  was  greatly 
interested  in  this  lesson,  and  said  to  Miss  Williams,  the 
cooking  class  teacher: 

"Oh,  Miss  Williams!  May  I  learn  how  to  make  the  stew, 
too?  (She  was  one  of  the  'housekeepers'  for  that  day.) 
Papa  is  so  fond  of  it,  and  Bridget  never  has  good  luck 
with  it." 

Pleased  that  Nellie's  "soft"  spot  in  cooking  had  been 
found,  Miss  Williams  arranged  a  change,  so  that  Nellie 
might  use  the  stove  and  note  book,  together  with  the 
materials  that  went  with  the  stew,  instead  of  handling  the 
dishpan,  as  would  have  been  necessary  in  her  place  as 
housekeeper  for  the  day. 


JUDGE  MUNSON'S  NOTE.  173 

The  next  day  Nellie  brought  a  note  to  Miss  Preston,  and 
handed  it  to  her  with  a  beaming  smile.  It  was  from 
Judge  Munson,  and  read: 

Miss  H.  M.  PRESTON: 

Dear  Madam:  I  was  more  than  delighted,  last  night,  on  my 
return  from  the  office,  to  find  a  most  savory  stew  of  oysters  provided 
for  dinner.  I  soon  found  that  the  dish  was  the  product  of  my 
Nellie's  skill  in  cookery,  acquired  at  your  school ;  and  I  thank  you 
for  it,  and  for  all  that  it  means. 

Will  you  not  accept  an  invitation  to  dine  with  us,  on  Friday 
evening,  at  six?  I  should  like  to  plan  a  little  with  you,  for  it 
seems  to  me  that  you  have  struck  the  keynote  of  education, 
in  teaching  the  useful  things!  My  little  motherless  girl  will  need 
to  learn  the  art  of  home-making  and  housekeeping  from  a 
domestic,  if  it  is  not  taught  in  the  school  —  as  I  have  certainly 
never  dreamed  would  be  possible.  Command  me,  if  I  can  be  of 
any  service,  as  I  trust  that  I  may. 

Your's,  Obed'tly, 

FRANCIS  B.  MUNSON. 

From  that  time  there  has  been  no  trouble  in  getting  the 
interest  of  Miss  Nellie,  nor,  indeed,  of  any  of  the  pupils! 
Cordially, 

Miss  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 


174  PRESTON  PAPERS. 


No.  XXXII. 

FROM  KINDERGARTEN  TO  PRIMARY. 

OLDTOWN,  N.  Y.,  Jan.  23,  189-. 

Dear  Mr. :  —  We  are  quite  excited  over  the  kinder- 
garten question,  or  questions,  for  more  than  one  has  come 
up  to  trouble  us.  It  has  been  like  this: 

In  his  real  anxiety  to  do  just  the  right  thing,  Mr.  John- 
son has  let  the  pendulum  swing  as  far  to  leeward  as  it  used 
to  be  to  windward  ;  and  instead  of  our  schools  being 
places  for  study  and  mental  effort,  development  and  prog- 
ress, there  is  some  danger  of  there  being  just  criticisms  on 
the  score  of  their  becoming  as  wishy-washy  now  as  they 
were  mechanical  previously  !  The  introduction  of  a  kinder- 
garten department  into  each,  besides  being  a  real  innova- 
tion, has  been  a  constant  source  of  friction  between  the 
kindergarten  and  grade  teachers ;  and  neither  side  seems 
entirely  exempt  from  blame.  On  Friday  last  we  were 
the  recipients  of  a  note  from  Mr.  Johnson  to  this  effect: 

If  you  are  interested  in  the  work  of  the  lower  grades, 
will  you  not  try  to  be  present,  with  some  helpful  sug- 
gestion, on  Saturday  morning,  at  half-past  ten,  at  the 
usual  place  of  meeting,  for  the  purpose  of  effecting 
something  like  a  systematic  schedule  ?  I  regret  feel- 
ing obliged  to  break  into  your  holiday,  and  will  try 
to  make  it  up  to  you  later. 

I  wanted  very  much  to  ask  Miss  Preston  what  she  would 
do,  for  I  knew  that  she  had  strong  convictions  along  this 


THE  MEETING.  175 

very  line,  although  she  has  had  no  trouble,  not  even  the 
appearance  of  any,  with  the  very  "raw"  but  equally  con- 
ceited "  kindergartner  "  who  fell  to  our  share ;  but  she  was 
so  busy  that  I  did  not  even  have  a  chance  to  mention  it  to 
her !  Privately,  I  have  thought,  all  the  time,  that  Mr. 
Johnson  had  sent  Miss  Field  to  our  school,  instead  of  to 
any  other,  because  he  knew  that  Miss  Preston  had  the  tact 
which  would  make  it  possible,  even  if  not  easy,  to  "get 
along  "  with  her,  which  most  of  the  other  principals  would 
lack.  However,  that  is  anticipating  ! 

Nearly  every  principal  and  grade  teacher  was  present ; 
and  when  you  consider  the  form  of  the  request,  you  may 
deduce  the  fact  that  we  are  somewhat  wider  awake  than 
we  were  two  or  three  years  ago,  before  we  had  the  direct 
inspiration  that  Miss  Preston's  work  has  been  to  us. 

"We  will  hear  from  the  kindergarten  teachers  first," 
began  Mr.  Johnson,  as  soon  as  possible  after  we  had  assem- 
bled. Miss  Field  was  on  her  feet  in  a  moment.  She  is 
neither  backward  nor  in  the  least  abashed  by  the  feeling  of 
gross  incompetence.  She  has  "graduated  ";  and  although 
she  may  have  nothing  but  a  technical  knowledge  of  her 
subject,  she  does  not  counsel  with  her  principal,  except 
when  Miss  Preston  takes  the  initiative. 

"  I  think  that  the  kindergarten  teachers  ought  to  have 
better  rooms,  a  fuller  equipment,  and  more  liberty  of 
action,"  she  began,  but  Mr.  Johnson  hastened  to  interrupt 
her  with:  "That's  right.  Make  all  your  wants  and  wishes 
known,  but  please  be  specific  and  itemize  your  bill!  Don't 
leave  us  to  guess  at  what  you  mean." 

"Oh,"  she  replied,  airily,  "my  own  room  is  all  right. 
Miss  Preston  is  the  darlingest  principal,  and  my  flock  of 


1 7  6  PRESTON  PA  PERS. 

little  ones  just  too  cute  for  anything.  We're  all  right.  I 
only  spoke  on  general  principles." 

Miss  Lewis  was  the  next  kindergartner  to  take  advan- 
tage of  the  open  door.  She  is  quite  a  little  older  than 
Miss  Field,  and  with  none  of  the  apparent  flippancy  which 
characterizes  the  younger  damozel.  "  I  think  that  an 
occasional  conference  between  the  primary  teachers  and 
kindergartners  would  help  to  an  understanding  more 
quickly  than  anything  else.  Some  of  us  are  too  closely  tied 
to  all  that  is  old,  while  others  fail  to  recognize  any  merit  in 
aught  that  is  new.  Neither  is  quite  right ;  for  with  educa- 
tion and  experience  we  should  be  able  to  sift  the  desirable 
from  what  is  merely  theory  or  technical,  and  so  secure  the 
best  from  all  quarters.  If  the  one  side  can  be  but  mag- 
nanimous and  the  other  tractable,  we  ought  to  find  all 
parts  of  the  work  suited  to  develop  as  a  whole,  no  one  part 
overshadowing  any  other,  and  none  giving  way  to  the  rest." 

"That  is  what  I  think,"  urged  Mr.  Johnson.  "  If  other 
school  systems  have  been  benefited  by  the  introduction  of 
kindergartens,  why  should  not  we?  Our  Board  of  Educa- 
tion is  able  and  willing  to  do  what  is  necessary  in  the  way 
of  expense;  and  it  does  seem  as  though  we  ought  to  be  able 
to  work  out  the  pedagogical  side  of  the  question,  and  to  do 
it  to  the  advantage  of  all  concerned."  He  looked  a  little 
worried,  but  not  so  testy  as  he  used  to  when  things  did  not 
run  smoothly. 

"  I  don't  know  just  how  it  is  with  the  rest  of  you,  I  am 
sure,"  said  Miss  Wood  ;  "but  I  think  that  there  is  more 
damage  accruing  to  both  child  and  teacher  from  the 
kindergarten  nonsense  than  all  the  good  that  ever  comes 
from  it  will  be  able  to  balance." 


TROUBLE  FROM  KINDERGARTEN  TRAINING.      177 

"Will  you  not  please  be  definite,  Miss  Wood?"  asked 
the  superintendent,  a  trifle  flurried  and  anxious. 

"  I  mean  just  thus  :  The  kindergarten  children  who  get 
promoted  to  my  room  have  no  ideas  of  order,  obedience, 
nor  steady  work.  If  I  cannot  let  them  play  all  the  time 
they  are  unhappy ;  and  as  for  respect,  that  is  not  to  be 
thought  of,  from  them."  She  was  excited,  and  her  voice 
seemed  to  indicate  that  she  had  reached  the  jumping-off 
place. 

Miss  Wells  was  on  her  feet  in  an  instant,  and  was  talking 
with  unusual  fervor.  While  no  one  seemed  to  have  any 
war  paint  on,  it  did  look  as  though  fires  that  had  been 
smoldering  were  all  breaking  out  at  once.  I  partly  knew 
what  the  trouble  was,  and  could  guess  at  more;  but  being 
only  an  assistant,  I  don't  feel  like  mixing  up  any  too  much 
even  yet,  although  I  must  own  up  to  a  greater  sense  of  re- 
sponsibility than  I  used  to  have. 

"  I  can  say  '  Amen  '  to  all  that  Miss  Wood  has  said, 
besides  giving  other  impressions  of  a  personal  experience 
with  kindergarten-trained  children.  I  prefer  them  to 
come  to  me  in  the  ignorance  of  all  school  life  and  work 
which  has  characterized  our  first-term  children  until 
recently.  They  are  more  teachable,  and  less  work  has  to 
be  done  to  put  them  in  the  way  of  good,  genuine  study. 
They  now  have  no  idea  of  consecutive  thought;  and  as  for 
really  attempting  anything  that  does  not  promise  pleasure 
or  some  form  of  play,  I  might  as  well  talk  to  the  wind  as  try 
to  get  anything  out  of  the  recently  promoted.  I  never  had 
such  a  state  of  affairs  before,  and  shall  be  glad  if  we  may 
go  back  to  the  old  way." 

Here  was  a  bomb,  but  before  it  had  had  time  to  burst, 


1 78  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

and  so  carry  ruin,  Miss  Preston  was  saying,  in  her  suavest 
tones,  and  with  her  most  gracious  manner :  "  I  hope  that 
the  kindergarten  department  will  not  be  relegated  to  the 
woodshed  of  our  educational  workshops  until  it  has  at  least 
had  a  fair  trial.  I  do  not  think  that  we  can  always  tell 
just  what  a  man's  character  is  by  the  color  of  his  hair  nor 
by  the  cut  of  his  coat ;  nor  do  I  believe  in  a  wholesale  con- 
demnation of  something  that  so  many  really  great  edu- 
cators and  profound  thinkers  have  endorsed.  Surely, 
there  must  be  a  germ  of  good  in  it,  that  we  may  all  find  and 
make  our  own,"  gently,  but  none  the  less  forcefully.  I 
have  noticed  that  the  force  of  many  of  Miss  Preston's 
arguments  is  in  an  inverse  ratio  as  to  the  gentleness  ;  and 
when  she  purposes  to  be  especially  effective  she  is  both 
calm  and  polite,  even  to  an  unusual  degree. 

"Can  you  suggest  anything?"  asked  Mr.  Johnson,  his 
face  lighting  up. 

"I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the  step  between  the 
kindergarten  and  the  primary  department  is  rather  too 
long  for  the  little  minds,  and  perhaps,  too,  for  the  little 
bodies.  So  I  have  tried  to  bridge  this  by  improvising 
some  work,  of  a  play  or  recreative  nature,  that  may  be  used 
while  the  little  folks  are  getting  a  bit  wonted  to  the  new 
order  of  things.  1  have  had  paint  boxes,  so  that  they  could 
paint,  after  the  regular  lessons  had  been  given.  I  have  let 
them  cut  out  pictures  for  the  school  scrap  book  ;  and  if  an 
especially  neat  hand  was  found,  I  would  let  the  little 
owner  do  the  pasting  for  this  treasured  volume.  I  have  let 
them  cut  letters  for  our  letter  boxes,  and  words  for  word 
boxes,  I  have  had  '  cut  up  stories'  for  them  to  divide  into 
paragraphs,  with  the  promise  that  they  should  have  the 


A  GOOD  AUXILIARY.  179 

story  for  to-morrow's  reading  lesson.  I  have  let  them 
string  so  many  kernels  of  popcorn,  and  so  many  cran- 
berries, and  then  find  how  many  of  each  they  had,  for 
number  work.  I  try  to  keep  them  busy,  and  in  a  legitimate 
way,  until  they  are  so  used  to  the  routine  of  alternating 
work  and  play  that  they  have  ceased  to  rebel  at  the  notion 
of  work,  if  there  has  been  any  such  inclination,  as  I  rather 
think  there  has  at  times.  We  cannot  grow  grapes  from 
thistles;  nor  should  we  expect  too  much  from  the  kinder- 
garten. It  is  a  good  auxiliary,  but  we  have,  perhaps,  de- 
manded that  it  bear  the  whole  burden  of  home  and  school." 

"And  I  thank  you  for  the  word,  Miss  Preston,"  said 
Miss  Lewis,  her  eyes  filling  with  tears.  "I  have  often  felt 
my  own  incompetence,  which  a  seeming  want  of  sympathy 
has.  not  diminished.  I  do  want  to  do  good  work,  and  to 
help  the  little  ones  to  a  realizing  of  what  school  with  all 
its  opportunities  means  ;  but  I  am  never  quite  sure  that 
some  one  is  not  throwing  cold  water  on  what  is  to  me  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  systems  of  teaching  the  young,  but 
which  has  found  so  few  truthful  interpreters.  We  are  all 
liable  to  make  mistakes,  and  1  am  anxious  to  confer  with 
any  who  can  help.  It  is  a  long  time  since  I  studied  under 
a  trainer,  and  I  have  perhaps  grown  rusty,  but  would  like 
to  apply  what  I  have  learned,  and  to  learn  as  much  more 
as  I  can.  I  love  this  part  of  the  work  as  I  do  no  other, 
and  yet  I  know  that  it  needs  the  other  to  supplement  this. 
We  ought  to  work  together,  and  in  perfect  accord,  instead 
of  one  eying  the  other,  with  only  adverse  criticism  as  a 
goal." 

"I  am  sure  that  Miss  Lewis  is  right,  as  I  hope  that  we 
all  are  in  part,"  said  Miss  Preston.  "  If  we  honestly  want 


180  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

to  help  each  other,  it  will  not  be  difficult.  We  all  know 
that  the  natural  atmosphere  of  the  child  is  play,  and  that 
few  of  us  ever  work  from  choice,  even  after  we  are  grown 
up ;  so  the  love  of  work  must  be  taught. 

The  kindergarten  plays  have  their  good  effects,  too,  in 
bringing  the  muscles  under  the  control  that  will  be  needed 
later  for  penmanship,  drawing,  and  kindred  things.  The 
child's  senses  are  being  trained  when  he  is  playing  the 
guessing  games,  or  working  with  blocks  of  clay  or  other 
kindergarten  material.  The  relationship  of  the  family  is 
taught,  and  trained  into  the  child's  mind  with  the  songs, 
stories,  and  plays  of  birds  and  animals.  The  great  world 
of  industry  is  opened  to  the  childish  mind  through  the  songs 
and  stories  of  trade  and  industry,  and  the  child  is  brought 
into  direct  and  close  sympathy  with  the  working  world. 
So,  too,  of  citizenship.  The  duties  of  policemen,  firemen, 
etc.,  become  a  part  of  the  daily  play  ;  and  civic  life  is  no 
longer  strange. 

But  we  must  provide  a  step  between  the  highest  kinder- 
garten work  and  the  lowest  primary  grade ;  for  I  believe 
that  there  is  the  'hitch.'  From  the  informal  life  of  the  one 
to  the  rigid  rules  of  the  other  is  a  gap  that  needs  a  plank. 
Can  we  not  put  in  some  good  work  that  shall  be  useful,  but 
not  too  hard  —  pleasant,  but  with  its  own  broadening  influ- 
ence on  the  little  lives  ?  Shall  we  not  give  them  easy  les- 
sons on  birds,  flowers,  shells,  fruits,  vegetables,  whatever  is 
of  interest  to  them,  things  with  which  they  come  in 
contact,  but  about  which  they  have  not  been  taught 
regularly?  Should  we  have  any  trouble  in  giving  a  lesson 
6n  a  rose,  a  plate  of  strawberries,  a  basket  of  peaches,  a 
bag  of  peanuts,  or  a  dish  of  popcorn  ?" 


TO  BE  HELPED.  181 

"That's  it!  That's  just  what  we  needed!"  said  Mr. 
Johnson,  with  great  enthusiasm.  "The  kindergarten  has 
come  to  stay,  and  we  must  give  it  a  helping  hand,  a  crutch 
even,  if  necessary ;  but  we  must  not  turn  it  out." 

Nor  shall  we.  There  was  a  sprinkling  of  tears  as 
some  of  the  ki'dr/girten  teachers  went  up  to  shake  hands 
with  Miss  Preston,  and  I  noticed  that  even  Miss  Field  had 
lost  her  flippant  air,  and  was  conferring  with  the  others. 

I  will  advise  you  of  the  outcome  later. 
V  ery  1  ruly, 

Miss  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 


1 82  PRESTON  PAPERS. 


No.  XXXIII. 
PRACTICAL    PSYCHOLOGY. 

OLDTOWN,  N.  Y.,  March  15,  189-. 
Hon. ,  State  Supt.,  etc. 

My  Dear  Sir: — I  would  never  have  believed  that  so  many 
of  the  plain,  practical,  every-day  sort  of  teachers,  could  be 
induced  to  look  into,  much  less  to  really'  become  enthusi- 
astic over,  anything  that  has  always  seemed  to  me  so 
abstruse,  and  of  so  little  working  value  as  psychology. 

Yet  here  we  are,  "doing  time"  not  on  apperception, 
concepts,  and  other  beauties  of  the  really  practical  science, 
but  on  such  homely  divisions  of  it  as  Cultivation  of  the 
Will,  Memory  Training,  Control  of  Thought,  of  Sleep,  of 
Worry,  of  Nerves,  of  Health;  Psychology  of  Diet,  of  Dress, 
of  Humor,  of  Hope,  of  Labor,  Study  and  Rest;  Control  of 
Fear,  of  Likes  and  Dislikes,  and  many  other  similar  topics. 

I  can  only  give  you  a  few  hints,  and  let  you  judge  of 
just  what  we  are  accomplishing.  The  assignment  for  last 
week  had  been  announced  the  week  before,  and  by  Mr. 
Johnson;  for  with  all  his  improvement,  he  is  still  inclined 
to  run  after  false  gods,  and  to  tie  us  all  down,  to  a  certain 
extent,  to  his  ideas.  He  is  really  trying  to  get  up  to  the 
high  plane  from  which  Miss  Preston  sees  and  acts;  but  it 
is  a  little  difficult,  when  one  has  so  long  been  steeped  in 
one  idea,  to  introduce  another;  so  when  the  requests  for 
next  week's  topic  were  handed  in,  and  one  paper  said: 


FIRST  LESSONS.  183 

"I  think  we  ought  to  do  something  with  psychology,"  he 
said  at  once:  "That  is  a  purely  empirical  science.  Still,  if 
any  of  you  think  that  it  would  be  the  thing  to  take  up 
next,  I  have  no  objection.  Each  one  may  bring  whatever 
he  has  found  most  interesting  to  him.  I  almost  said  what- 
ever he  had  found  most  helpful;  but  psychology  is  more 
likely  to  help  the  college  student  who  is  fitting  for  the  law, 
medicine,  or  some  other  profession,  rather  than  that  of 
teaching." 

Miss  Preston  was  not  at  that  meeting,  although  I 
strongly  suspected  that  she  was  the  writer  of  the  paper,  so 
the  announcement  fell  in  comparative  silence. 

It  was  not  quite  so  still,  however,  when  the  meeting 
opened  last  week.  Mr.  Johnson  was  not  in  the  chair,  and 
he  began  by  asking:  "Have  any  of  you  anything  to  say 
about  the  subject  in  hand?" 

Now,  I  had  one  or  two  thoughts,  not  very  large  ones; 
but  I  do  hate  to  be  the  first  speaker,  or  the  first  anything, 
and  so  I  waited.  Not  so  Miss  Preston,  for  she  was  on  her 
feet,  and  recognized,  so  quickly  that  it  almost  took  my 
breath  away. 

"I  believe  that  our  psychology  should  be  reduced  to  the 
every-day  wants  of  the  every-day  teacher,  at  first.  Then, 
when  we  are  ready  for  more  abstract  and  perhaps  more 
theoretical  or  experimental  work,  we  can  take  up  those 
parts  of  it." 

"Will  you  please  tell  us,  Miss  Preston,  just  how  you 
hive  succeeded  in  finding  anything  really  practical  in  so 
deep  a  study  ?  I  have  honestly  tried,  ever  since  last  week's 
meeting,  to  find  just  where  I  could  apply  any  one  thing 
that  I  had  learned  in  psychology,  either  for  myself  or  my 


184  PRES  TON  PA  PERS. 

school;  and  I  have  to  confess  that  it  was  a  dismal  failure," 
said  Miss  Palmer,  one  of  our  older  teachers. 

"My  case,  to  a  T,"  said  Mr.  Lowell,  "except  that  I  gave 
up  on  the  third  round,  and  was  not  disposed  to  try  another. 
I'd  rather  play  baseball,  although  I've  no  special  affinity 
for  that,  either!" 

"If  your  psychology  had  taught  you  how  to  train  your 
will,  perhaps  you  would  not  have  allowed  yourself  to  be 
defeated  by  one  failure,  nor  a  dozen,"  responded  Miss 
Preston,  with  one  of  her  rare  smiles.  "Now,  the  very  first 
thing  that  I  learned,  which  was  really  an  application  of 
what  I  knew,  was  in  regard  to  persistence,  and  especially 
in  reference  to  an  object  to  be  gained.  In  my  case  it  was 
a  question  of  sleep.  I  was  born  nervous,  acquired  nervous- 
ness as  I  went  along  for  twenty-five  years,  and  had  it 
thrust  upon  me  by  my  work,  my  want  of  self-control,  and 
the  habit  of  sleeplessness  to  which  it  had  lead.  When  I 
awoke  to  this  fact,  I  was  already  a  chloral  victim,  to  the 
extent  that  I  slept  only  under  its  influence,  and  but  little 
even  so.  It  had  been  prescribed  by  our  family  physician, 
and  my  psychology  had  not  taught  me  to  question  any- 
thing that  came  with  fairly  good  authority,  nor  to  sift 
things;  so  I  swallowed  the  chloral,  night  after  night,  only 
to  find  myself  less  and  less  inclined  to  sleep  as  I  ought, 
until,  as  I  say,  I  was  awakened  to  the  situation." 

Such  intense  interest  as  was  generated  by  this  simple 
recital,  even  1  was  not  prepared  for!  How  the  questions 
did  rain  in  on  the  speaker!  Parliamentary  usage  was  not 
called  for  nor  even  thought  of;  but  "Do  tell  us  about  it!" 
"How  did  you  work  out  the  problem?"  "Where  did  you 
begin?"  "Just  what  did  you  do  first,  and  how?" 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SLEEP.  185 

Finally,  Mr.  Wheeler  (he  was  in  the  chair  that  day), 
seeing  the  way  that  the  tide  was  turning,  and  deciding  to 
make  the  most  of  it,  said:  "Miss  Preston,  will  you  not 
come  to  the  platform,  where  you  will  be  more  easily 
heard?" 

With  the  little  red  spot  flaming  on  each  cheek,  which 
always  tells  us  that  she  is  under  the  special  excitement  of 
enthusiasm,  Miss  Preston  went  slowly  up  the  aisle  and 
steps,  and  with  a  slight  nod  spoke,  as  easily  as  if  to  her 
own  class: 

"I  had  an  idea,  of  course,  that  the  habits  of  years  could 
not  be  overcome  in  a  few  hours,  days,  or  months;  and  that 
it  meant  a  fight  to  the  finish.  Still,  I  had  a  moderately 
well-developed  will,  and  it  was  more  a  question  of  how  to 
use  that,  than  anything  else.  Reasoning  out  the  thing,  I 
saw  that  it  meant  for  me  to  so  control  my  thought,  my 
body,  and  my  entire  being,  that  all  would  tend  to  woo  the 
dreamy  goddess  who  had  been  worked,  worried  and  other- 
wise driven  from  my  pillow.  So  I  began  the  discipline  of 
all,  forbidding  even  the  entrance  of  thought,  when  I  was 
ready  to  sleep,  and  by  simple  arrangements  to  prepare  my 
pillow  for  the  reign  of  Lady  Sleep.  I  knew  that  it  would 
take  time,  it  might  be  a  long  time;  but  I  determined  to 
bring  my  will  power  to  the  test,  and  succeeded,  not  fully  at 
first,  but  so  effectively  that  now  I  can  sleep  anywhere,  in  a 
street  car,  stage  coach,  or  in  a  chair,  at  almost  any  time, 
and  under  very  trying  circumstances." 

"But  just  how  did  you  control  thought?"  asked  Mr. 
Whipple.  "Now  I  can  control  some  things,  motion,  direc- 
tion, action  ;  but  thought?  That  is  too  mystical  for  me!" 

"And  for  me!"     "Me  too!"  was  heard  here  and  there. 


1 86  PRESTON  PAPERS, 

Taking  the  bull  by  the  horns,  Miss  Preston  said,  laugh- 
ingly: 

"Why,  you  all  control  thought,  more  or  less,  all  the 
time.  It  is  only  that  you  do  it  unconsciously  and  there- 
fore imperfectly;  but  if  you  will  determine  to  do  it, 
and  then  set  yourselves  to  its  accomplishment,  you  will 
be  surprised  to  see  how  very  easy  of  attainment  the 
thing  is." 

"Would  you  mind  proving  that,  Miss  Preston?"  asked 
Mr.  Johnson. 

"Not  in  the  least,"  was  the  earnest  reply.  "I  think  that 
we  are  all  possessed  of  unconscious  powers,  and  that  it  is 
only  when  we  use  these  and  live  up  to  our  best,  that  we 
make  the  most  of  life  and  of  its  opportunities  for  good,  to 
ourselves  and  others.  But,  to  illustrate:  As  I  don't  wish  to 
direct  your  thought  at  present,  I  will  show  you  something, 
without  naming  it.  As  soon  as  you  find  yourselves  think- 
ing of  it,  will  you  not  kindly  indicate  it  by  uplifted  hands, 
that  I  may  know  when  all  are  thinking  of  that  which  I 
show?" 

Then  she  held  up  her  watch,  and  the  hands  began  to  go 
up,  as  one  and  another  thought  of  the  tiny  object. 

"That  is  very  well,"  was  the  pleased  comment.  "Make 
a  note  of  the  fact  that  you  can  think  of  a  visible  thing,  at 
will.  Now  see  if  you  can  transfer  thought,  from  one  visible 
thing  to  another,  and  think  of  the  next  thing  that  I  hold  up," 
raising  a  book  that  lay  on  the  desk. 

Again  the  hands  came  up,  and  as  quickly,  in  response  to 
the  summons.  "And  now  let  us  go  a  step  farther  and 
transfer  the  thought  from  the  visible  to  the  temporarily 
invisible.  See  if  you  can  think,  at  will,  of  someone  con- 


CONTROL  OF  THOUGHT.  187 

nected  with  the  production  of  the  book — the  author,  printer, 
proof  reader,  binder,  publisher,  or  salesman." 

And  once  more  she  was  gratified  at  the  show  of  hands. 
"Now  take  another  step  and  travel  from  one  invisible  thing 
to  another  invisible  one.  Think  of  some  other  book,  or  a, 
magazine,  or  paper." 

And  they  did,  with  apparently  equal  ease.  "And  now 
for  the  hardest  test,  perhaps.  Carry  your  thought  from 
the  invisible,  which  is  concrete,  to  the  invisible,  which  is 
abstract,  and  think  of  some  quality  of  that  book — as  lively, 
pernicious,  depressing,  inspirational,  etc." 

This  time  the  hands  came  up  more  slowly,  but  all  showed 
finally.  "Now,"  said  she,  "you  have  all  been  controlling 
thought,  and  doing  it  voluntarily,  through  will  power.  The 
question  then  becomes  one  of  determination  and  of  endu- 
rance. Make  up  your  mind  to  hold  your  thoughts  right  down 
to  whatever  you  have  in  hand,  and,  if  you  are  in  church, 
listen  to  the  sermon  that  you  go  there  to  hear,  rather  than 
let  your  thoughts  come  and  go  on  other  things.  If  it  is 
reading,  or  study,  do  the  same.  Know  simply  nothing  but 
what  is  before  you,  even  if  you  at  first  have  to  harness  the 
thought  engine  with  a  drag  chain.  And  if  you  want  to 
sleep,  why  just  clear  out  your  thought  house;  and  don't 
allow  even  one  intruder  to  come  in  and  dance  a  jig  about 
your  school,  your  salary,  nor  any  trouble  or  pleasure,  any 
duty  or  neglect;  but  give  yourself  up  to  the  business  of 
sleeping,  and  to  sleeping  thoroughly." 

Oh,  my!     The  buzz  that  followed!     Of  course,  it  was  all 
plain  now,  and  to  even  the  dullest  of  us;  but  some  wanted' 
more  light,  especially  about  the  physical  preparations,  and 
I  must  give  you  a  synopsis  of  these: 


1 88  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

Go  to  bed  comfortably.  If  the  feet  are  cold  or  wet, 
warm  or  dry  them.  If  you  are  hungry,  eat  something,  and 
let  it  be  something  warm,  like  a  cup  of  hot  broth,  a  cup  of 
hot  milk,  or  even  a  piece  of  hot  toast.  If  you  can't  do 
better,  heat  a  cup  of  water,  and  make  some  Scotch  broth, 
of  crackers  (or  dry  bread)  broken  in  a  cup,  seasoned  with 
salt  and  butter,  and  turn  the  boiling  water  over  all. 

If  specially  nervous,  take  a  short,  but  quick  walk,  in  the 
open  air.  If  you  can't  do  that,  take  a  hot  bath,  beginning 
with  the  water  only  warm,  but  adding  more  as  it  grows 
cool.  •  • 

In  any  event,  go  to  bed  slowly  and  quietly.  Make  as 
few  motions  as  possible,  and  as  little  effort  as  you  may. 

Darken  the  room,  and  be  sure  that  it  and  the  bedding 
are  well  ventilated. 

Make  a  complete  change  of  clothing,  from  that  worn 
during  the  day. 

Don't  try  any  tricks  of  counting,  thinking  of  a  flock  of 
sheep,  nor  of  anything,  but  drop  off  quietly,  and  at  once, 
into  the  land  of  dreams. 

Really  psychology  has  its  good  points,  even  for  the  com- 
monest teacher  of  us  all,  if  it  will  help  us  in  the  ills  that 
reach  us  through  such  common  things  as  loss  of  sleep, 
memory,  etc.,  and  will  fortify  us  to  meet  and  conquer  fear, 
prejudice  and  other  detrimental  things. 

We  are  all  at  it  now,  and  all  the  time,  as  John  Wesley 
said  that  his  church   people  must  be  if  they  would  ac- 
complish something.     More  anon,  from 
Yours  Truly, 

Miss  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 


DREAD  CF  OPENING  EXERCISES.  189 


No.  XXXIV. 

OPENING    EXERCISES. 

OLDTOWN,  N.  Y.,  April  2,  189-. 

My  Dear  Mr.  -  —  :  —  I  know  that  you  will  think  that 
we  struck  the  keynote  to  lots  of  trouble,  at  our  last  meet- 
ing, when  I  tell  you  that  we  sounded  the  heights  and  depths 
of  "Morning  Exercises."  But  we  had  been  in  deep  waters 
before,  and  so  were  not  alarmed,  even  when  some  of  us  felt 
that  we  were  nearing  danger  ! 

"  I  always  dread  the  opening  exercises,  almost  more  than 
any  other  part  of  the  day,"  began  Miss  Wells. 

"Why?"  asked  Mr.  Johnson. 

"  Oh,  in  the  first  place,  I  know  that  the  children  have  no 
natural  aptitude  for  the  reading  of  psalms,  nor  for  the 
moral  talks  which  I  think  they  need  from  time  to  time, 
and  which  are  more  conveniently  put  in  then  than  later  in 
the  day.  I  am  sure,  too,  that  if  I  notice  one  half  of  the 
pranks  that  are  being  cut  up  under  my  very  nose,  as  it 
were,  I  shall  simply  open  the  door  to  more  mischief.  And 
when  the  stragglers  begin  to  come  in,  I  am  just  enough  up- 
set to  be  almost  cross,  if  not  quite  so." 

"That's  about  my  feeble  condition,  except  that  I  haven't 
quite  dared  shut  my  eyes  to  the  mischief  as  yet,"  said  Mr. 
Wheeler.  "At  times  it  seems  little  short  of  sacrilege  to 
ask  or  even  to  allow  children  to  come  in  fresh  from 


1 90  PRESTON  PA  PE  RS. 

play-ground  frolic,  or  play-ground  trouble,  and  sing  hymns, 
recite  Scripture  verses,  and  so  on ;  and  I  have  very  grave 
doubts  about  the  everlasting  good  that  is  accomplished; 
while  I  am  pretty  certain  that  some  of  the  evils  that  are 
engendered  thereby  are  neither  uncertain  nor  intangible." 

"Can  you  name  some  of  these  evils?"  asked  Mr. 
Johnson. 

"I  should  say,  for  one  thing,  that  irreverence  is  fostered. 
I  believe  in  the  preparation  of  the  heart  as  well  as  the  mind 
and  body.  And  I  don't  believe  that  this  is  cultivated  by 
the  rush  from  one  thing  to  another.  Even  Moses  had 
instruction  to  put  off  his  shoes  when  he  stood  on  holy 
ground.  I  am  inclined,  too,  to  think  that  it  begets  a  habit 
of  carelessness;  and  that  the  perfunctory  performance  of 
any  duty  makes  that  duty  distasteful  after  a  time." 

"I  agree  with  you  there,"  said  Miss  Preston.  "But 
why  let  the  morning  exercises  degenerate  into  anything 
that  is  either  sacrilegious  or  perfunctory?" 

"  Why,  I  don't  well  see  how  I  can  help  it  in  this  instance. 
I  have  not  found  the  children  any  too  keen  for  other  things ; 
and  this  is  simply  the  'last  straw,'  in  their  minds.  I  can 
manage  so  that  they  don't  know  the  terrible  monotony  of 
most  things  in  the  world  of  study,  but  will  confess  that  I 
am  somewhat  powerless  when  it  comes  to  morning  exer- 
cises." 

"  We  have  a  season  of  quotations  from  favorite  authors, 
and  that  helps  us,"  said  Miss  Smith. 

"So  do  we  sometimes,"  said  Miss  Preston;  "and  at 
others  we  have  familiar  talks  about  anything  of  interest  in 
the  current  events  at  home  and  abroad.  Just  now  we  are 
on  the  qui  rive  over  the  Dreyfus  case,  which  has  been 


OBJECTIONS  AND  NEW  IDEAS.  191 

followed  from  first  to  last  by  the  class  in  history,  from  which 
the  interest  spread  to  the  others.  Then,  too,  once  in 
awhile  I  get  some  one  to  come  in  and  talk  to  the  school 
for  five  or  ten  minutes  about  whatever  they  are  most 
interested  in  or  familiar  with.  I  have  just  had  a  very 
pleasant  series  of  short  talks  from  Miss  Sherwood,  on  the 
castles  of  Europe,  given  for  the  benefit  of  the  geography 
class  primarily,  but  dripping  through  to  the  rest.  Dr. 
Scofield  has  given  more  than  one  scientific  talk,  which  he 
has  been  glad  to  illustrate  with  his  microscope.  He  has  a 
fine  lot  of  mounted  specimens;  and  when  my  advanced 
class  in  physiology  came  to  study  the  circulation  of  the 
blood,  I  had  only  to  ask  him  to  give  us  a  talk,  when  he  re- 
sponded, and  since  then  has  several  times  offered  his 
services.  I  have  sometimes,  too,  found  it  profitable  to  get 
some  one  who  could  give  personal  experiences  of  travel,  or 
recollections  of  progress  in  science,  living,  or  the  Civil 
War.  I  sometimes  get  a  really  fine  reader,  or  speaker,  to 
come  in  and  give  us  something  that  will  wake  up  the  read- 
ing classes  as  to  their  own  possibilities ;  for  I  want  each 
one  to  believe  the  very  best  of  himself,  and  to  know  that 
no  matter  how  distinguished  anyone  becomes  in  after  life, 
the  key  to  all  printed  knowledge  is  in  the  learning  to  read, 
and  that  that  takes  hard  work,  drudgery  even.  If  they  can 
sometimes  see  and  hear  what  can  be  done  with  the  human 
voice,  or  with  anything,  and  learn  that  it  is  drudgery 
rather  than  genius  that  will  accomplish  the  same  thing  for 
them,  it  will  be  an  incentive  to  study.  I  believe  that  the 
morning  hour  carries  great  possibilities  in  this  way,  more, 
perhaps,  than  any  other  part  of  the  day  ;  and  so  I  try  to 
make  the  opening  exercises  as  attractive  as  I  can." 


I92  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

"  I  should  think  that  you  would  hardly  need  to  offer 
premiums  on  prompt  and  regular  attendance,  then!"  said 
Mr.  Macomber,  with  a  touch  of  sarcasm. 

"  If  I  believed  in  the  premium  system  at  all,  I  might  be 
obliged  to,"  replied  Miss  Preston,  ignoring  the  quality  of 
his  remark.  "But  with  this  feature  made  prominent,  I 
have  but  little  need  even  to  accentuate  the  necessities  for 
punctuality.  I  aim  to  get  prompt  and  regular  attendance 
for  the  child's  own  sake  ;  but  I  am  not  sure  that  he  will 
always  be  prompt  and  regular,  unless  there  is  an  incentive 
behind  the  ethics,  through  his  early  years.  Then,  too,  I 
believe  that  we  ought  to  start  the  day  happily;  so  that,  no 
matter  what  comes  up  afterwards  of  an  unpleasant  nature, 
and  no  matter  what  the  child  has  had  to  endure  before 
starting  for  school,  his  memory  of  the  morning  hour  will 
be  always  a  pleasure,  and  the  lessons  learned  and  the 
inspiration  gained  will  go  with  him  through  life." 

"  You  are  right,  Miss  Preston,  and  perhaps  we  have 
none  of  us  realized  just  how  much  power  we  carry  right 
here,"  said  Mr.  Johnson.  "  If  we  can  so  plan  the  opening 
exercises  that  they  will  hurt  no  one's  conscience,  and  not 
reach  the  dead  level  of  monotony  (He  is  taking  on  Miss 
Preston's  language  as  well  as  thought!)  so  that  they  will 
be  looked  forward  to  by  all  with  pleasant  anticipation,  and 
back  with  fond  memories,  we  have  found  the  key  to  success 
in  this  part  of  the  work.  Do  you  add  music?" 

"  Yes,  but  not  too  classical,  and  not  too  much  of  it,  nor 
of  too  serious  a  nature.  We  organized  a  school  choir,  of 
some  of  the  timid  ones,  to  develop  their  talent,  and  a  school 
orchestra,  having  a  drum,  mouth  organ,  triangle,  concertina 
and  a  mandolin.  We  are  doing  very  well,  and  are  planning 


STAKT  THE  DAY  HAPPILY.  IQ3 

to  have  a  piano  soon,  which,  with  the  wheezy  organ  that  is 
already  ours,  will  give  us  plenty  of  music  for  any  and  all 
occasions." 

"Do  you  read  the  Bible  at  your  morning  service?" 
asked  Mr,  Wheeler. 

"  Yes,  but  sparingly,  and  with  all  the  discretion  that  I 
can  command.  I  am  pretty  sure  to  leave  out  the  pictures 
of  torment,  and  touch  heavily  upon  those  that  engender 
hope,  courage,  and  promise,  coupled  with  the  lines  of  duty. 
Sometimes  I  paraphrase  a  Bible  story,  and  tell  it  without 
all  the  details,  if  I  find  that  something  has  come  up  which 
will  make  Scriptural  illustration  of  special  merit.  But  I 
think  the  proper  selection  of  Scripture,  the  prayer  to  be 
offered,  and  the  music  for  the  morning  exercises,  all  require 
a  great  deal  of  discriminating  thought.  Reverence  can  be 
taught  even  more  by  implication  and  example  than  by 
words;  and  the  whole  benefit  of  the  morning  exercises 
will  be  greatly  intensified  if  carried  out  in  the  right 
spirit." 

Discussion  of  these  and  other  points  used  up  the  hour, 
and  it  was  with  a  feeling  that  we  had  all  gained  something 
that  we  separated.  I  know  one  thing:  That  with  a  class  of 
eighty-one  in  my  room,  I  have  had  more  than  a  week  go  by 
recently  without  a  single  case  of  absence  or  tardiness,  and 
more  than  two  months  without  any  tardy  ones.  I  believe 
that  my  record  is  not  far  different,  from  the  rest  of  our 
school ;  and  yet  the  subject  is  rarely  mentioned  in  "chapel," 
as  we  call  our  morning  gatherings.  They  are  among  the 
sweetest  meetings  that  we  have,  as  a  school ;  but  there  is 
no  pressure  brought  to  bear  on  anyone,  to  secure  attend- 
ance; and  it  is  no  unusual  thing  to  find  several  of  the 


194  /W  ES  TON  PA  PERS. 

parents  in  at  our  opening  exercises.  They  are  sure  to  hear 
something  useful,  beautiful,  and  pleasant;  and  they  show 
their  good  will  by  not  waiting  for  a  special  invitation. 

Miss  Preston  keeps  a  box  labeled  "Suggestions  for  Open- 
ing"; and  when  any  of  us,  teacher  or  pupil,  find  a  pretty 
poem,  a  bit  of  interesting  news,  a  choice  piece  of  music, 
an  anecdote,  or  anything  that  will  "piece  out"  for  an  emer- 
gency, when  other  material  is  short,  the  box  always  responds 
to  the  demand. 

Hoping  that  this  will  help  some  one  else,  who  has  found 
the  problem  a  deep  one,  I  am 

Very  Truly, 

Miss  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 


THE  VALUE  OF  KE VIEWS.  195 


No.  XXXV. 

REVIEWS. 

OLDTOWN,  N.  Y.,  April  20,  189-. 

My  Dear  Superintendent :  —  The  subject  of  "Reviews" 
came  up  last  week,  and  so  much  valuable  thought  was 
brought  to  light  that  I  believe  it  had  better  go  where 
it  will  be  sure  to  help  some  one  else,  as  I  am  confident 
that  it  will  in  your  hands. 

Mr.  Macotnber  said  something  to  Miss  Preston  which 
started  the  discussion,  and  the  rest  of  us  lent  a  hand,  or  a 
pair  of  them!  Said  he:  "Miss  Preston,  I  am  inclined  to 
disagree  with  you  as  to  the  value  of  reviews,  referred  to  by 
you  in  your  talk  on  history  the  other  day." 

"Do  you?  On  what  grounds,  please?"  with  a  most 
winning  smile. 

"Why,  it  does  not  seem  to  me  really  pedagogical  to 
review.  Once  the  lesson  has  been  truly  and  thoroughly 
developed,  it  seems  like  a  waste  of  raw  material  to  go  over 
and  over  it,  again  and  again.  I  had  as  soon  see  a  farmer 
trying  to  thresh  old  straw,"  a  trifle  pompously,  and  with 
supreme  self-consciousness,  for  all  eyes  were  turned  upon 
him,  and  he  felt  that  he  had  a  prime  advantage  in  the  use 
of  the  word  "pedagogical,"  as  Miss  Preston  rarely  uses  so 
long  or  so  scientific  a  term!  If  he  had  only  known  what 
most  of  us  were  thinking! 


i9  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

"I  am  sure  that  I  at  least  do  not  mean  to  waste  any  of 
the  child's  time  in  doing  either  weak  or  unnecessary 
things,"  was  the  quiet  reply.  "And  yet,  I  sometimes 
question  if  our  work  is  not  done  too  superficially,  even 
when  it  has  had  the  conceded  advantage  of  drill  and 
thoroughness,  so  far  as  we  can  command  either.  How 
many,  do  you  think,  of  the  little  folks  would  remember 
that  two  and  two  is  four,  even  after  a  'thorough  and  true 
development'  of  the  combination,  if  nothing  ever  brought 
it  to  their  finite  and  juvenile  minds  again?" 

"Yes,  but  that's  just  it!"  he  exclaimed,  excitedly. 
"Things  do  bring  the  combination  to  their  observation,  and 
daily  if  not  hourly.  So  that  all  the  time  that  you  have 
been  giving  to  reviews  might  better  have  been  given  to 
something  new,  some  other  study." 

"I'm  not  so  sure.  But  conceding  the  truth  of  your 
observation,  for  sake  of  the  argument:  Then  would  you 
limit  the  force  of  your  remark  to  such  studies  as  those  that 
do  not  have  their  fundamental  truths  brought  home  daily, 
if  not  hourly?" 

Mr.  Macomber  began  to  squirm,  as  the  logic  drove  him 
into  constantly  narrowing  quarters,  but  he  still  wriggled! 

"Why,  I  think  that  the  rule  is  about  equally  good  every- 
where," he  almost  gasped,  as  he  floundered. 

"Then,  in  just  what  way  would  you  recommend  me  to  so 
teach  the  location  and  climate  of  Japan,  for  instance,  that 
it  might  be  brought  to  the  child's  mind,  daily  or  even 
hourly?  And  do  the  different  points  in  physiology,  history, 
etc.,  come  to  the  child  in  that  way,  without  the  discipline 
of  drill?" 

The  battle  was  on,  and  in  earnest.     None  of  us  were 


DEVELOPMENT  FOLLOWED  BY  DRILL.  197 

especially  sorry  for  the  presumptuous  young  pedagogue, 
even  in  his  embarrassment;  for  he  had  been  itching  for  just 
this,  ever  since  he  had  attended  our  first  meeting,  and  had 
then  thrown  down  the  gauntlet,  which  Miss  Preston  had, 
in  mercy,  refused  to  pick  up.  Fortunately,  Mr.  Johnson 
came  to  the  rescue,  with  a  magnanimity  which  is  not  usual 
with  us  "women-folks"  and  which  did  not  seem  to  crop 
out  with  surprising  abundance  among  the  men  of  our  force. 
To  tell  the  truth,  I  think  that  all  hoped  that  the  time  had 
come  when  the  new  man  could  be  taught  that  even  first- 
class  pedagogy  may  become  offensively  intrusive,  in  the 
hands  of  an  upstart ! 

"Miss  Preston,  will  you  be  kind  enough  to  give  us  some 
of  your  best  points  in  the  matter  of  reviews?  I  have 
happened  in  two  or  three  times  when  you  have  had  some- 
thing of  the  sort  on  the  carpet,  and  I  have  always  been 
more  than  surprised  and  pleased  at  the  revelation  of  your 
very  thorough  methods,"  said  Mr.  Johnson,  warmly.  "The 
truth  is  that  while  development  lessons  are  all  right,  I  am 
beginning  to  think  that  the  old-fashioned  drill,  to  follow 
the  development,  gives  a  better  result  than  either  could 
accomplish  alone." 

"I  agree  with  you,  and  heartily,"  responded  Miss 
Preston.  "The  combination  of  development  and  drill  is 
best.  If  we  only  wouldn't  run  after  new  fancies  to  the 
exclusion  of  the  old,  but  would  sort  out  the  best  of  each,  it 
would  improve  the  stock,  all  around!  We  are  prone  to 
either  discard  the  one,  in  toto,  and  cling  only  to  the  other, 
or  we  snatch  at  anything  that  offers  change,  while  perhaps 
the  change  is  not  in  the  least  beneficial.  In  our  school, 
our  reviews  have  been  merely  complete  recitations,  with  a 


198  PRESTON  PATERS. 

few  novel  features  put  in,  to  add  pleasure  to  profit.  I 
generally  call  for  volunteer  service  in  this,  as  in  some  other 
things,  at  first.  I  get  all  that  I  can  by  having  each  pupil  give 
one  fact,  no  one  to  repeat  what  some  one  else  has  said, 
and  all  to  be  on  the  watch  to  see  that  nothing  is  given 
erroneously.  Any  who  let  an  error  slip  by  without  com- 
ment, are  considered  as  accessories,  and  so  lose  credit  or 
standing.  A  mis-statement  rarely  goes  around  the  entire 
class;  but  if  it  does,  it  serves  to  keep  them  wider  awake  for 
the  next  bout." 

"What  follows  the  volunteer  work?"  asked  Professor 
Lowell,  with  note-book  in  hand.  He  picks  up  a  lot  of 
information  at  these  meetings,  and  never  seems  the  least 
bit  disturbed  to  be  caught  in  the  very  act  of  transcribing. 
Some  men  would  find  it  embarrassing  to  be  seen  doing 
anything  that  so  nearly  looks  like  study;  and  even  some 
of  our  women  teachers  hate  to  have  it  thought  that  the  zero 
of  their  educational  thermometer  ever  shows  up ...  or  down ! 

"Why,  then  we  are  likely  to  have  a  few  minutes  of  recit- 
ing by  turn,  or  by  topic,  by  name,  or  by  seat,  one  half 
against  the  other,  or  in  some  of  the  various  ways  that  we 
use  for  other  recitations.  We  get  in  some  fun,  if  it  is 
possible;  and  yet  we  do  not  let  even  that  run  riot.  I  try 
to  keep  the  main  idea  uppermost,  even  when  'correlating'; 
for  I  have  found  that  most  people,  and  especially  children, 
find  it  difficult  to  hold  the  attention  to  any  one  thing  long 
enough  to  get  all  the  good  that  there  is  in  it,  even  when  side 
issues  are  not  so  much  as  introduced.  We  have  too  much 
skimming,  as  a  rule,  in  our  teaching;  and  we  do  not  suck 
our  educational  oranges  quite  dry  enough  before  leaving 
them  as  a  habit." 


CUL  TIVA  TION  OF  HUMOR.  \  99 

"Will  you  tell  me  just  how  you  manage  to  get  any  fun 
out  of  anything  so  forlorn  as  a  review  lesson?"  asked  Miss 
Smith. 

"Oh,  my!  The  average  boy,  or  girl,  for  that  matter, 
sees  fun  and  humor  everywhere;  but  if  not,  I  try  to  open 
the  perspective.  My  part  of  the  play  is  to  control  the  fun 
and  cultivate  the  humor,  but  not  to  suppress  either.  I 
remember  several  years  ago  of  assigning  a  review  in  history 
that  had  .(in  the  text-book  recitation)  so  much  about 
Indians,  their  assaults  on  the  white  people,  at  the  time  of 
the  settlement  of  the  early  states,  that  even  as  I  gave  the 
lesson,  I  thought:  'Here  is  certainly  one  thing  that  has 
no  chance  for  any  bubbling  humor.'  But  when  it  came 
time  for  the  written  review  papers,  one  of  the  quietest 
boys  of  the  class  had  written:  'The  Indian  had  one 
habit  that  some  men  have  copied  ever  since:  He  always 
let  his  wife,  or  squaw,  do  the  work,  while  he  did  the 
fighting.'  That  brought  out  actual  fun,  and  earnest  dis- 
cussion, as  well.  But  it  is  true,  in  other  things  besides 
reviews,  that  the  natural  bent  to  fun  will  easily  come  to 
the  surface  if  it  is  not  constantly  suppressed;  and  it  ought 
not  to  be." 

"I  quite  agree  with  you  now,  Miss  Preston,  although  I 
should  not,  perhaps,  once,"  said  Mr.  Johnson.  "The 
child  who  is  happiest  is  going  to  do  more  and  better 
work,  and  get  more  good  from  it,  than  he  who  goes  about 
it  only  because  he  must.  But  tell  us  more  about  the 
reviews." 

"Sometimes  we  conduct  the  review  as  we  would  an  old- 
fashioned  spelling  school,  arraying  one  side  against  another, 
and  having  the  subject  announced  for  some  days  ahead  of 


200  PRESTON  PAPERS. 

time,  that  each  side  may  prepare  for  the  contest.  At 
other  times,  I  write  out  leading  topics,  or  head  lines,  on 
the  blackboard,  and  see  who  can  do  the  best  filling  in,  im- 
promptu. Once  in  a  while  I  get  the  class  to  look  out  for 
its  own  weak  spots,  and  help  each  one  'shore  up'  where  he 
is  in  a  tottling  condition.  The  main  thing  is  to  keep  the 
interest  at  high  water  mark,  so  that  in  being  thorough  a 
sense  of  exhaustion  will  not  follow.  Another,  but  rather 
more  risky,  way  is  to  let  the  class  talk  to  an  audience,  real  or 
imaginary,  that  has  no  knowledge  of  the  lesson  in  question, 
and  starting  from  the  beginning,  let  each  one  lay  a  brick 
in  the  fabric,  'turn  about,'  each  one  putting  his  share  not 
only  in  place,  but  at  the  right  time;  so  that  when  complete, 
the  story,  or  lesson,  shall  be  not  only  entire  but  sym- 
metrical. In  this  way,  not  only  the  matter  must  be  well 
in  hand,  but  the  manner  also,  so  that  there  will  be  no 
stumbling  over  form." 

"Dear  me!"  said  Miss  White.  "There's  a  whole  lot  of 
possibilities  done  up  in  a  review;  and  I  have  always  thought 
that  it  only  meant  to  say  'Begin  at  page  16,  and  review  the 
lessons  to  38.'  How  it  does  take  experience  to  know  just 
how  to  teach!" 

"Yes,  or  to  do  almost  anything.  But  that  is  one  trouble 
with  the  newly-graduated.  As  a  rule,  it  is  the  fledgling 
that  has  the  most  assurance,  here  as  elsewhere,"  observed 
Mr.  Johnson,  totally  oblivious  that  he  was  stepping  on 
anybody's  toes,  and  I  secretly  wished  that  they  were  mine 
—  for  I  would  willingly  take  the  criticisms  for  sake  of  the 
years  that  it  would  give  me,  backward,  to  be  a  fledgling 
again;  and  I  could  do  so  much  better  work,  now,  if  I  were 
in  the  younger  class!  But  one  thing  is  certain,  I'm  not  too 


NEVER  TOO  OLD  TO  PROFIT.     .  201 

old  to  profit  by  what  I  hear  and  read.     So  there's  still  a 
bright  side,  even  for 

Yours,  etc., 

Miss  PRESTON'S  ASSISTANT. 


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U.  S.  History,  Geography,  English  Grammar 
Physiology  and  Arithmetic 

By  G.  Dallas  Lind 

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Outline  Lesson  LVII 

McKinley's  Administration 

"  The  peace  we  have  ivon  is  not  a  selfish  truce  of  arms, 
but  one  •whose  conditions  presage  good  to  humanity? 

Explosion  of  the  "  Maine  " 

Spanish- American  War: — 

Dewey  at  Manila 

Sampson  Bombards  San  Juan 

Sinking  of  the  "  Merrlmac" 

Schley  Destroys  Cervera's  Fleet 

Stamp  Tax 

Battles  of  El  Caney  and  San  Juan  Hill 

Ponce  Surrenders  to  General  Miles 

Manila  Captured 

Annexation  of  Hawaii 

Treaty  of  Peace  Signed  at  Paris 

Peace  Conference  at  the  Hague 

War  with  the  Philippine  Insurgents 

See  Montgomery1  s,  McMaster's,  Lee's  or  any  other  recent 
History  of  the  United  States. 

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Cloth,  160 pages.  Price,  75  cents. 


List  of  Contents 

Lesson         I — Manners  in  General. 
Lesson       II — Manners  at  Home. 
Lesson     III — Manners  at  School. 
Lesson      IV — Manners  on  the  Street. 
Lesson        V — Manners  at  the  Table. 
Lesson      VI — Manners  in  Society. 
Lesson    VII— Manners  at  Church. 
Lesson  VIII — Manners  Toward  the  Aged. 
Lesson      IX — Manners  at  Places  of  Amusement. 
Lesson       X — Manners  in  Traveling. 
Lesson      XI — Manners  in  Places  of  Business. 
Lesson   XII — Manners  in  Making  and  Receiving 

Gifts. 

Lesson  XIII — Manners  in  Borrowing. 
Lesson  XIV — Manners  in  Correspondence. 

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Who's  Who  in  Mythology? 


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1000    MYTHOLOGICAL   CHARACTERS 
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Character  Building 

By  C  S.  Coler,  M.  S, 
Cloth,  Price,  $1.00 

What  we  want  to  appear  in  character,  we 
must  put  into  our  schools.  If,  as  teachers  and 
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sham  in  children,  we  need  not  be  surprised  if  we 
see  these  things  in  society  and  in  the  world. — 
From  the  Author  s  Preface. 

Contents 

I*    Aims  in  Character  Building 
n.    Psychology  of  Character  Building 
HI.    Ethics  of  Character  Building 
IV.    Methods  in  Character  Building 
V.    Growth  in  Character 
VI.    Habit,  In  Relation  to  Character  Building 
VH.    Study,  In  Relation  to  Character  Building 
VnL    Education,  In  Relation  to  Character  Building 
DC.    The  Parent,  In  Relation  to  Character  Building 
X.    Character  and  American  Citizenship 
XI.   Inspiring  Thoughts  and  Helps 

The  following  subjects  have  been  carefully 
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my^^^irs^TFF^^^^z^ 

•f     yL"  -    m  |r— ~B*-f     I    |i»-3-y  ^ — * 


1.  Old  college  chum.dear  college  chum, The  days  may  come, the  days  may  go  ;  But 

2.  Thro'  youth.thro'  prime, an  J  when  the  days  Of  harvest  time  to  us  shall  come.Thro' 

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hearty  college 


words,  there  are, 
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Of  ALMA   MATER. 

The  whole-souled, 


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compilers  hope, 
the  very  songs 
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Copyright,    Price,  $1.50  postpaid.    1900. 

HINDS  &  NOBLE,  Publishers,  NEW  YORK  CITY. 

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P    rit.  "> 


still  my  heart  to 
all  we'll  bear  the 


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n'ries  clings.  Of  those  college  days   of     long    a 
n'ries  dear.   Of  those  golden  days,  old    col  -  lege 
rit. 


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THE  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

Santa  Barbara 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
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